The Dream Factory
by EnchantedtoMeetYou
Summary: The year is 1941 at MGM Studios in Hollywood. Jesse St. James and Quinn Fabray are the biggest movie stars in the country. Rachel Berry is only starting out. Will this unconventional beauty make her dreams come true? St. Fabray to St. Berry and Fuinn.
1. Beyond The Gates of MGM

**A/N: This one came to me last night in the midst of watching some old movie musicals. I'm a huge fan of the MGM musicals era and thought it would be cool to think about what it would be like if our Glee characters were aspiring actors in old Hollywood. So here it is!**

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><p>It was a cool November day in 1941 in Culver City, California. A brand new shiny black and white Rolls Royce had just pulled up to the gates of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, which boasted to have more stars than there were in the heavens. It was certainly a believable claim because the movie studios turned out some of the most beloved celebrities in their motion pictures each year. It was the place where young hopefuls journeyed to each year for a shot at the big time. But a studio with such an enormous reputation only chose the best of the best to represent them and more people were turned away than accepted.<p>

The Rolls Royce contained one such star that shone especially bright. It only took one quick flash of the face in the backseat for the guard at the gate to pull them open to grant access. This star in particular was currently the studio's biggest box office draw and was on the cover of all the magazines that scattered newsstands everywhere.

"Morning, Mr. St. James," greeted the blonde guard with a polite nod.

Jesse St. James, the twenty one year old star, poked his head out of the rolled down window of the vehicle and offered the man a polite smile.

"Good morning, Sam. How'd your audition yesterday go?" he asked, seeming as though he were genuinely curious.

"Ah, was a waste. Schuester and Sylvester don't know talent if it hit 'em on the head," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, but froze when he realized what he just said. "Except whenever they cast you, that is."

"Nice recovery," Jesse muttered with a smirk. "I'll see if I can put a good word in for you next time. How does that sound?"

Sam's eyes widened excitedly and he nearly jumped in his spot.

"Could you really?" he asked hopefully. "It would be great to get out of this security suit and actually get a part."

"I'll see what I can do," Jesse replied with a shrug. "Anyway, I can't stay and chat because I have a scene to shoot. The last one for this picture, too. So I'd like to get it over with."

Sam nodded and tapped the side of the car before motioning for the driver to proceed into the studios.

Sitting back in his seat, Jesse looked out the window to see the hundreds of actors walking around the studios. Many of them were in costume for elaborate dance numbers while others were just going for a stroll with friends in between shots. Whenever he recognized a friend from one of his old movies, he'd wave or give a polite 'hello'. His good mood was evident in just how friendly he was being this morning and he could owe it all to the fact that he finished shooting his latest film, _New York Destiny_, this very afternoon. It meant that he could start working on something new now, and the prospect filled him with hope and excitement for the future.

The Rolls Royce pulled up to Studio 13 and the driver got out of the car to open the door for Jesse. Stepping out, Jesse grabbed his hat that perfectly matched his custom made suit and placed it on his head. Giving the driver a final wave, he proceeded into the studio and over to his usual dressing room that was at the far end.

His usual team of hair and makeup people sat waiting for his arrival, ready to go. There was a swift knock on his door and he nodded to his assistant to answer it. In came a young man holding Jesse's costume for the scene on a hanger draped over his shoulder.

"Now, Jesse. This time you're not allowed to go to the commissary while you're wearing your costume. It took me forever to get that ketchup stain out of your jacket last time and I'm not going through the effort again. Do you hear me?" said the young man sternly.

"Yes, Kurt," Jesse muttered without looking up at him.

"Don't 'Yes, Kurt' me, Mr. St. James," he muttered, grabbing Jesse's hat and setting it aside so the hairdresser could style his hair for the scene. "I'm a designer. Not a dry cleaner. I don't get paid enough for this…"

Jesse chuckled under his breath and shook his head, receiving a light tap on the head from the hairdresser for moving.

"Just sit still and read the articles about yourself in _Hollywood Today_," Kurt muttered, sitting down in the chair next to him and handing him a magazine before turning his attention to another one in his hand.

Jesse reached out for the reading material quickly and took a quick glance at the picture of him and his costar on the front page before flipping to the center to read the article. Before he could start, there was another light knock on his door.

"Come in," he called out, turning his head to face the door, but looking back the second the hairdresser tapped his head again.

The door swung open and in came the figure of a tall and graceful blonde wearing a long turquoise gown that fell to the floor. Her hair was already done in neat pin curls that were set with a matching turquoise flower. Smiling softly, she floated over to Jesse's side and leaned in to peck his cheek. Jesse's hairdresser didn't even bother to protest her getting in the way because she knew better than to speak to the woman.

"Good morning, St. James," she said in her low sweet voice as she looked up at him in the reflection of his vanity mirror in front of him.

"Good morning, Quinn," Jesse replied, reaching into his jacket pocket for his handkerchief to wipe the lipstick off his cheek. "I expect you won't forget your lines today, right?"

Kurt poked his head up from the magazine he was reading and snickered, earning him a glare from Quinn.

"It was a really difficult scene, okay? And I had skipped lunch so forgive me for being too lightheaded to remember the lines," she just about growled at him.

Jesse sighed and stood up to change into his costume for the scene. He pulled off his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt underneath while still focusing on Quinn.

"I told you not to listen to Sylvester. You don't need to lose weight. You're fine the way you are," he said seriously as he pulled on the shirt for the scene and began buttoning it.

Quinn pursed her lips together and walked to the window with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Just forget about it and get dressed so we can get this scene over with," she said quietly.

Jesse rolled his eyes and reached for his tie. Kurt grabbed it from him and stood up to help him put it on.

"Let me do it. You always get it crooked," he muttered under his breath.

After taking a moment to cool down, Quinn turned back around and walked back to Jesse with another sweet smile in place.

"Jesse, dear, ever since today's the last day of filming, I was thinking we could go out to _The Flamingo_ for dinner tonight. If we get the word out that we're going, we could likely be met with a ton of people from the press to take our picture and ask us about the new movie. It'll be great publicity," she said, reaching up to smooth the collar of his jacket.

Jesse raised his eyebrows suspiciously and sighed at her proposition.

"We don't need the publicity, Quinn. Have you seen _Hollywood Today_? We're on the cover," he replied, pulling the magazine from Kurt's hands (eliciting a disgruntled "Well I certainly wasn't reading that," from him) and showing it to her.

Quinn rolled her eyes and placed her small hands on her hips.

"There's no such thing as too much publicity, Jesse. Our status in Hollywood is all we have and it could be here one day and gone the next. So we need to do everything we can to maintain it before some nobody steals our spotlight. Do you want that?" she snapped, grabbing the magazine from him and handing it back to Kurt who gave them both a glare before returning to the article he was on.

Jesse's eyes widened at the thought. He hated the fact that Quinn was probably right. Fame was the most important thing to him in his life and he'd be damned if he would ever let anything come in between. Sighing, he turned to look in the mirror to give himself the final once over.

"I told Blaine I'd meet up with him tonight for drinks at the bar, though," he said with a sigh.

Kurt poked his head up at the mention of Blaine's name immediately.

"Blaine? Blaine Anderson?" he asked, trying to contain his extreme curiosity.

Jesse raised his eyebrow in Kurt's direction, but dismissed the thought he was having.

"That's him. There's talk going around the studio that he's going to be cast in the next picture I'm in and we agreed to discuss the film over drinks," he explained, looking back at Quinn in the reflection of the mirror.

Quinn shook her head and set off for the door.

"Think about it and we'll talk about this over lunch later on," she hissed before shutting the door behind her.

Jesse looked back at Kurt who shrugged and returned his attention to his magazine. Sighing, Jesse reached for the doorknob to go to the sound stage when Kurt called his name.

"Change out of your costume before you meet up with Ms. Fabray for lunch later on, will you?" he asked, shooting him a stern look over the top of the magazine.

"Yeah, yeah…"

Putting his hand in his pockets, Jesse walked down the hallway and over to the sound stage where the set for the final scene was set up. It was made to look exactly like a New York City rooftop, complete with expert lighting to mimic the moonlight and fans blowing in a gentle breeze to make Quinn's gown flow around her as though she was an enchanted princess of the night.

As he made his way over to her, he was stopped by the Co-Director of the project, William Schuester.

"Jesse, are you ready to wrap things up today?" he asked, clapping his hands and rubbing them together in excitement.

"You have no idea," he muttered under his breath. "Let's get this over with."

Will patted Jesse on the back encouragingly before returning to his seat next to his Co-Director Sue Sylvester who sat there glaring at Quinn and scribbling notes on a notepad on her lap.

"Alright, places!" Will called out, putting his hands in the air to call everyone's attention.

Jesse walked up to Quinn and placed his arms at her waist.

"You look great, you know," he murmured so only she could hear.

Her lips pulled up into the quickest and weakest smile possible.

"Let's just do this," she muttered, looking down at her feet.

"Get it right this time, Lucy Caboosey," Sue called from her chair, earning a nudge from Will.

"Ignore her," Jesse murmured, looking into her eyes.

Quinn bit the inside of her cheek and closed her eyes to block out the frustration coming from Sue Sylvester. She nodded slightly to Jesse and looked into his eyes as she waited for Will to call for them to begin.

"From the top! Action!" Will called, leaning back in his director's chair.

The second the camera started rolling, Jesse was immediately thrown into character. He looked down at Quinn with a gaze of total love and adoration as he reached up to stroke her cheek.

"Mary, I've searched far and wide thinking that there was something more out there for me. I travelled the world looking for my destiny…And I've found it" he said, quoting the script perfectly.

"Come to rub it in my face? You left me. Are you expecting me to congratulate you?" she replied, pulling herself away from him and crossing her arms.

Jesse walked up behind her and placed his arms on her shoulders as the camera came in for a close up.

"I was wrong. I never belonged out in Los Angeles. It was here that I was meant to be. With you," he said softly, absolutely nailing the correct amount of emotion he was supposed to inject into his lines.

Quinn's angry gaze softened at his words and she immediately spun around and placed her hands on his chest.

"Oh John, do you mean it?" she asked, looking up at him lovingly.

Jesse stepped back and grabbed her hands in his as the back track to the final song began playing. As his voice flooded the soundstage, Jesse sang along with the recording so it was in perfect sync when filmed. It was a typical love song that was bound to dominate the radio when the movie was released. He was confident of that.

Sitting in his director's chair, Will Schuester moved his lips with the words as he swayed in his seat to the melody. Rolling her eyes, Sue grabbed the script and smacked it against Will's chest to get him to stop. He shrugged and returned his attention to the couple who were now dancing along to the choreography across the soundstage.

They nailed each lift and spin as though they had rehearsed the scene a hundred times before. But by this point, they were both old pros and didn't need that much rehearsal to get it right… at least when Quinn decided to eat, that was.

When the song came to a close, Jesse dipped Quinn expertly and pulled her into the most romantic kiss imaginable. It was sure to take audience's breath away when they saw it once it opened in a few months time.

"Cut!" called Sue, standing up and reaching for the script. "Terrible. Despicable. Weak. We're doing it again."

Quinn groaned and leaned against Jesse for support. Will shook his head and stood up, grabbing the script from Sue.

"That was perfect. We're done. That's a wrap!" he called, clapping his hands together.

"How dare you override me?" growled Sue as she followed Will off the soundstage and over to his office.

Jesse sighed with relief and pulled away from Quinn. He was about to turn to leave when a camera flashed in his face.

"What the—"

"Jesse, these people are from _Motion Picture Weekly_. I told them we'd give them an interview," Quinn murmured under her breath as she grabbed Jesse's arm and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"You could have told me, you know," he whispered before turning his attention to the man with the pen and notepad.

"Jesse St. James and Quinn Fabray. I'm Jacob Ben Israel, head writer at _Motion Picture Weekly_ and I'm here for the scoop on this movie and when I say this movie, I mean your personal lives," he said boldly, looking up at them over the top of his notepad.

Jesse raised an eyebrow and bit back a nasty comment that was on the tip of his tongue. The publicity department at the studio trained him for interviews and he knew not to say anything crude that could potentially damage his reputation. So instead, he smiled brightly and motioned for him to walk with them as they left the sound stage.

"What would you like to know?" he asked, looking down at Quinn who smiled up at him with the most rehearsed grin she could manage.

"So how long have you two been in love?" he asked, holding his pen ready to write.

Jesse opened his mouth to answer, but Quinn cut in.

"Well this is our third picture together. We first met on the set of our first, _Broadway Dreams_, and we've been inseparable ever since," she said, smiling up at Jesse once more.

Jesse smiled and nodded, leaning in to kiss Quinn's temple.

"It was love at first sight. The moment I saw those hazel eyes, I knew," he added.

"Sweet as honey," muttered Jacob as he scribbled away.

"He really is the sweetest," Quinn added, gently squeezing his arm.

"So are things just as romantic behind closed doors, if you know what I mean?" asked Jacob with a creepy smirk.

Both Quinn and Jesse's smiles faded at his question.

"Excuse me?" she asked, peeling herself away from Jesse and putting her hands on her hips.

"Don't you think that's a little inappropriate?" Jesse asked, taking a step towards Jacob.

"Oh, its 1941. Get with the times. We all know what's going on behind closed doors so let's not beat around the bush. Give us the details, St. James," Jacob pushed.

"This interview is over and if you publish any of this you'll be hearing from my lawyer," Jesse growled, raising his fist in the air.

Quinn grabbed his arm and shook her head.

"Let it go," she whispered, not wanting to ruin their image.

"Oh, looks like Jesse St. James has an angry side. This will be perfect," sneered Jacob, his smirk deepening.

Jesse's nostrils flared and he moved to lunge at him but Quinn tightened her grip on his arm to calm him down. He closed his eyes and nodded without saying a word.

Jacob chuckled under his breath and took a few steps back to leave.

"You'll be hearing from me again soon!" he called before heading out.

The second the door slammed shut, Quinn exhaled a breath she had been holding and stepped away from Jesse.

"You need to be more careful. The last thing we need is a story about your anger problem hitting newsstands," she reprimanded him as she started to head back to the dressing rooms.

"I don't have an anger problem. He was out of line!" Jesse snapped, heading off in the opposite direction to his own dressing room.

"Just calm down and meet me in the commissary in fifteen minutes for lunch, okay?" she called back at him and slammed her dressing room door shut behind her.

Jesse shook his head and completely bypassed his own dressing room to head out of the studio to go for a walk to the commissary.

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><p>On the opposite end of the lot, a petite young woman with silky dark hair that was curled like the style of the times, stood in line at the commissary with a tall blonde right behind her. They both spied the menu on the wall behind the counter as they tried to decide what to order.<p>

"Why don't you just order spaghetti like me?" the blonde asked with a shrug as she reached for one of her own curls and twirled it on her fingertips. "I like it because I get to twirl it on my fork as though I'm making the fork dance…"

"Because, Brittany, I need to watch my weight if I want to get a real role in this studio. Not to mention, the spaghetti comes in meat sauce and I've decided to cut out all animal products from my meals because I think it's just cruel to eat them," she explained firmly.

"But Rachel, there's no animals in meat sauce. If there were animals in it, _that_ would be cruel. There's just meat," she shrugged.

Rachel slowly turned her head to look at Brittany with a questioning look. Before she could say anything, the man behind the counter cleared his throat to encourage them to hurry up and order.

"I'll just have the pea soup," Rachel said with a small nod. "Make sure there's no ham. And that it's just a cup. I don't need a whole bowl."

"We only serve the full serving. Just exhibit some restraint and eat half," the man said before turning his attention to Brittany.

Brittany stepped forward and leaned against the counter with a smile.

"Spaghetti, please," said the blonde.

"Do you really think that's such a wise decision when you have a dance audition in an hour?" Rachel asked with a slightly raised brow.

"What if you get nervous during your singing audition and throw up pea soup on the pianist?" Brittany asked with a shrug.

Rachel bit her lip and looked down at her feet.

"Maybe lunch was a bad idea…" she muttered nervously, playing with a loose thread on her lavender dress.

"Don't be so nervous. If you don't eat, you could pass out. You're a really good singer, Rachel. In fact, you're my favorite singer. They would be dumb not to give you the part," Brittany said with a shrug.

Rachel smiled slightly at Brittany's compliment, but shook her head to dismiss it as she stepped forward to claim the tray with her bowl of soup.

"If I was really so talented, then they would have given me a real part by now. I've been at this studio for two years now and they've only ever put me to dance in the background or have a walk on role as an extra. They won't even give my voice or acting talents a real chance because I don't look the part," she explained, completely disheartened.

"What are you talking about?" Brittany asked, grabbing her tray with her plate of spaghetti.

"I'm talking about the fact that I'm short and a brunette with this beautifully tragic nose sticking out of my face that is bound to make me look like a bird with a huge beak on film," she replied, pointing to her nose for emphasis.

Brittany simply shook her head as she scanned the room for a free table for them to sit at.

"How would you rather look, then?" asked the blonde.

Rachel didn't need to think for a second to provide an answer because she had thought about this plenty of times for the past two years.

"Like Quinn Fabray. Tall. Blonde. That perfect nose. Maybe if I looked more like her, I'd be cast opposite Jesse St. James, too," she said with a sigh.

"He's dreamy," muttered Brittany under her breath. "I'd like to run my hands through his hair."

"I'd just like to be in a scene with him. He's such an amazing actor. But let's face it, I'll never get to work with Jesse St. James," Rachel muttered sadly.

"I thought I heard my name."

Rachel stopped dead in her tracks and looked up slowly. Taking a slow breath, she turned around to find herself standing face to face with Jesse St. James himself. He stood there with his arms crossed and with a curiously amused expression on his face.

"Mr. St. James," Rachel gasped, feeling her cheeks beginning to burn with embarrassment. "_Oh my God…"_

"Wow, his hair is even springier in person," Brittany whispered, but not soft enough so Jesse couldn't hear.

Jesse glanced over at Brittany curiously before returning his attention to Rachel.

"Call me Jesse," he said simply, smiling down at the brunette.

Rachel glanced around quickly for any sign of Quinn Fabray. They were Hollywood's it couple and were rarely sighted apart from one another. When she didn't see the blonde anywhere nearby, she returned her attention to Jesse and smiled.

"Okay, Jesse," she said sheepishly. "I never thought you'd be in this section of the commissary. Don't the stars have their own VIP section?"

"We do. But as I was heading over there, I heard someone mention my name and had to see what it was about," he said, his lips pulling in a smirk.

Rachel felt her face grow even hotter at his words. She tried to think of something to say so she wouldn't sound like such a complete fool in front of the star but nothing was coming out. She was normally so full of something to say but with his stormy eyes looking down at her, she found herself unable to formulate a single thought.

"I'm Brittany Pierce," said Brittany, waving with her free hand as she held onto her tray with the other when no one introduced her.

"Nice to meet you," Jesse said politely before turning his attention back to Rachel. "And you are?"

Rachel opened her mouth to reply but was cut off when Quinn Fabray called Jesse from the other end of the commissary. Her eyes widened at the sight of the blonde and she knew that she had to leave that very moment before she was spotted talking to Jesse. She had never met Quinn before, but she had heard rumors from the other background dancers and extras that she was incredibly territorial when it came to Jesse and she didn't want to give her a reason to dislike her. Since Quinn was a star, she had a lot of pull with the people in charge and could easily have her fired from MGM if she wanted to. That was definitely not something that Rachel was willing to risk.

"I should be going…" Rachel muttered, turning around quickly to make an exit.

But she hadn't factored in just how quickly Quinn was speeding towards Jesse. The moment Rachel had turned and taken a step forward, she found herself crashing right into the blonde herself. Her tray toppled right out of her hand and the bowl of the pea soup spilled all over Quinn's yellow dress. Quinn took a step back and looked down at her stained dress with her jaw dropped open in horror. Raising her hands to her lips, Rachel shook her head in shock and looked around for a napkin to help clean the mess off of her dress.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Fabray," Rachel gasped. "It was an accident. I didn't—"

"Do you realize what you've just done? This is a brand new dress!" Quinn shouted, stepping forward with clenched fists.

Rachel took a step backward instinctively and crashed back against Jesse's strong chest. Jesse placed his hands on her shoulders for a moment before stepping in front of her.

"Let's get you back to the dressing room so you can change, okay?" he asked, trying to keep the situation from snowballing into a full out fight.

"Not yet," she growled, trying to step past him to reach Rachel.

"Do you know who I am? I'll make sure to have you fired," she snapped, raising her hand to smack Rachel, but Jesse grabbed it before she could.

"I'm so sorry," Rachel whispered, trying to force back tears at the thought of being fired from the studio.

"You're a nobody!" Quinn spat as she pulled her arm free from Jesse's grasp and reached for Brittany's plate of spaghetti before tossing it at Rachel.

The pasta hit Rachel square in the chest and immediately stained her lavender dress that she had picked out just for her audition that afternoon. She was filled with a combination of disgust from having the meat sauce seeping through her clothes and on her skin, as well as embarrassment for the fact that this took place in public. But most of all, she was completely shattered over the fact that she wouldn't be able to make it to her audition looking like this. Her chance at getting a role was now gone because no one would ever take her seriously if she walked in covered in spaghetti.

"I was going to eat that, you know," Brittany muttered with a frown.

"Was that really necessary?" Jesse snapped at Quinn before stepping over to Rachel to see if she was okay.

Rachel took a step forward and slipped on some of the sauce that had fallen onto the floor, causing her to trip right into Jesse's arms and smear the meat sauce and noodles onto his costume that he hadn't changed out of after the end of shooting.

"Kurt's gonna kill me," Jesse muttered under his breath before helping Rachel stand up straight.

"Oh, I definitely will," said Kurt, stepping into the room with wide eyes as he surveyed the situation.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. St. James, I—"

"It's Jesse, remember?" he asked, smiling down at her weakly.

Rachel had just about accepted that she would never get hired in this town again. Her chances of keeping her job at MGM were slim to none since she had just covered two of its biggest stars in food. Feeling her eyes well up with tears, she moved to make a run for it, but Jesse grabbed her around the waist so she wouldn't be able to.

"Jesse, let's go," Quinn said, her voice laced with disgust at the sight of Jesse holding Rachel.

"I want to make sure she's okay," he said, shaking his head at the blonde.

"What about me?" Quinn snapped, pointing to the soup that stained her dress. "Fine. Stay with her. I'll just be off to L.B.'s office to get her tossed out of here."

Jesse's eyes darted from Quinn to Rachel frantically as he tried to work out some way to fix the problem.

"Just go with her. Even if she didn't report me, I would be well on my way out of here anyway," said Rachel as she searched her purse for a handkerchief to dry her tears.

"What makes you say that?" Jesse asked, reaching into his pocket for his own handkerchief and dabbing her eyes with it for her.

"Thank you," Rachel murmured, grabbing it from him so she could continue to dry her eyes. "I have an audition in less than an hour and I can't very well go in there looking like this…"

She shook her head and broke down into more tears at the thought of her dreams being done for. Jesse shook his head furiously and placed his hands at her shoulders.

"We'll fix this," he assured her before looking up at Kurt.

"I need your help," he said seriously.

"You'll need a miracle to get spaghetti sauce out of that suit, St. James. And I'm not doing it," said Kurt with his hands on his hips.

"Forget the suit!"

"Forget the suit? Do you know how much effort I put into making that?" Kurt snapped.

"Listen, I'm sorry I didn't change. But I need you to do me a favor and get her into something for her audition," Jesse explained, trying to keep his tone calm so he could convince him.

Rachel stared at Jesse and Kurt with her mouth slightly open in shock. She couldn't believe that a star like Jesse was actually trying to help her when he didn't even know her name.

"Jesse, I'm really good at coming up with outfits quickly. But I can't just pull a dress out of my—"

"Kurt. You have access to the costume warehouse. You can find something. Just do it. Please?" Jesse asked quickly.

Kurt pursed his lips together and looked over at Rachel. He couldn't stand the sight of the brunette looking so absolutely broken.

"Fine. But you owe me," Kurt muttered under his breath as he stepped over to Rachel.

Smiling, Jesse walked over with him and put his hands in his pockets.

"This is Kurt Hummel. He's the best designer you'll ever find at this studio—"

"Flattery won't grant you forgiveness for having the suit ruined, St. James," Kurt muttered bitterly.

"_Anyway_, he'll help you get changed in time for your audition. I'm going to go stop Quinn from getting you fired."

Rachel felt her eyes well up with tears once more, but this time in total gratitude.

"Mr.- I mean, Jesse. I can't begin to thank you enough for this," she said as her lips pulled into the first genuine smile since this mess happened.

Jesse shook his head and stepped back to leave, but stopped for a moment.

"Knock 'em dead, kid," he said with a wink before turning on his feet to go find Quinn.

Rachel's smile grew impossibly wide at his words and she waved him goodbye. She also said goodbye to Brittany (who had to go back in line to get herself some more spaghetti) before setting off with Kurt in the direction of the costume warehouse, hoping that there was still a chance for her now that Jesse had been so kind as to help her out. As they walked across the lot to their destination, she couldn't help but replay what had just happened in her mind. Even though most of it was absolutely horrific, she couldn't help but smile as she relived how kind Jesse St. James was to her. She was already a fan before, but she admired him even more so now.


	2. The Audition

Quinn Fabray stormed out of the commissary with her teeth clenched and her fists shaking. Despite the fact that she had just been humiliated, she managed to hold her head high to not give anyone around her the satisfaction of seeing her down. She knew that while many of them were kind to her to her face or seemed intimidated, they didn't really like her that much deep down. It was part of the price to pay to maintain her status as the top starlet in the lot. As she stormed passed the number of actors who couldn't keep their eyes off her, she shot them glares so they wouldn't even think of saying a word. Too preoccupied with this, she turned the corner around Studio 10 and crashed head on into what seemed like an extremely tall moving wall.

Shaking her head, she looked up to find herself face to face with a young man that seemed to be around her age. His dark brown hair was combed to the side like most men of the day did. But it was still slightly messy as some stray hairs poked up, clearly making it evident that he didn't put too much effort into his appearance. But despite that, he still looked charming in a way that Quinn couldn't quite put her finger on.

The sleeves on his button up shirt and his over jacket were rolled up to his elbows so he could carry the piece of lighting equipment more easily to his destination. Unlike many other men, he wasn't wearing a tie and his shirt was untucked one side. All of this put together was a clear sign that this young man wasn't one of the actors in the lot. He must have been some unimportant stage hand that nobody really cared about. To actors like Quinn, he was just another blank face.

Despite that, she couldn't help but bite her lip at the sight of him. The way he awkwardly reached up to run his hand through his hair and mess it up further as well as the way he immediately set the equipment down to see if she was okay had Quinn smiling briefly.

"I- I'm sorry," he said immediately after setting the equipment down. "I wasn't looking where I was going because I had to get this off to Studio 13 and…oh my God, you're Quinn Fabray."

Quinn looked down at her feet to hide the smile that crept up on her face. She was used to people being star struck with her by now, but this was different.

"That would be me," she replied with a slight nod.

"Hudson. Finn, Hudson," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake.

Quinn reached for his strong hand and shook it briefly before letting it go and running her hand through her curled hair.

"I'm on my way to Studio 13 now if you want to walk with me. As you can see, I need to get changed," she muttered, pointing to the stain on her dress.

Finn was smiling a goofy half smile as he looked down at Quinn. It wasn't the kind of smile she was used to getting from fans who weren't used to being around someone famous. It was full of character. But the second she made reference to the stain on her dress, he looked down and noticed it for the first time as though he had been far too busy staring into her eyes to notice more.

"Oh that's terrible. Here…" he said, reaching to take his jacket off.

"Oh, no. Really, you don't have to—"

"No, take it," he insisted, holding it out for her to put it on.

Quinn looked up at him for a moment and shook her head before turning around to let him drape the jacket over her shoulders. She grabbed onto the edges of the jacket and held it shut to cover the stain from being visible to anyone else as they walked.

As Finn bent down to pick up the equipment he was supposed to be carrying, Quinn took a moment to relish in his natural scent on his jacket. It wasn't anything like the cologne she was used to smelling on men. It was just the scent of him and for some reason, she found herself really liking it.

This completely went against how she usually was with men—especially men beneath her in status. She would usually never be caught dead wearing the jacket of some sweaty technician… or whatever it was he did.

"So, what is it exactly that you do around here?" she asked as they started to walk in the direction of the studio.

Finn shrugged and hoisted the lighting equipment over his shoulder.

"I do a little bit of everything when I'm needed. If they need someone to hold the lights, I'm there. If they need someone to fix a broken fan, I'm there. If they need a carpenter for a set background—"

"You're there," Quinn muttered with a small chuckle. "Kind of like a jack of all trades?"

Finn smiled proudly at her words and nodded.

"Kind of. I'm pretty good at it, you know? It's not glamorous, but it's a job," he said with a slight shrug. "And I like it."

It was strange but Quinn found his thoughts on his job to be quite admirable. He took pride in what he did and that had to count for something.

"So how did you end up with the…whatever that stuff is… on your dress?" Finn asked as he reached for the handle to the studio door.

Quinn sighed and stepped into the studio first, waiting for Finn to join her before continuing to proceed in. She had briefly forgotten her agitation in the period that she had been talking to Finn and just remembered that she was supposed to be heading over to L.B. Mayer's office to try and get her fired. He was the owner of the studio and would likely grant her request if she asked. But it was then that she realized that she didn't even know her name to actually make that happen. Smacking her lips together in annoyance, she shook her head and continued down in the direction of her dressing room.

"Some klutz at the commissary wasn't watching where she was going," she muttered through gritted teeth. "I should've just socked her while I had the chance."

Finn's eyes widened at Quinn's anger at the situation. He seemed to be slightly intimidated and slightly aroused at the same time.

"That's terrible," he managed to say after he set down the lighting equipment where he was supposed to.

Putting his hands in his pockets, he walked down with Quinn to her dressing room and stopped when they reached the door with the gold star.

"Well, I guess I should be going, then," said Finn awkwardly. He couldn't just invite himself into her dressing room. That wouldn't be the gentleman thing to do and despite his low status around the lot, he still tried his best to be a gentleman.

Quinn bit her lip once more, a habit that she just realized she had taken to more than normal today.

"Would it trouble you to come inside and help me with this stain?" Quinn asked, holding his jacket open to point to the soup on her dress.

Finn swallowed hard and nodded.

"I could do that."

He followed her into the dressing room and looked around for a moment, taking in all of the flowers that she had decorated the room with to make it her little escape whenever she relaxed here in between filming scenes. There was a porcelain doll on the vanity with blonde curls that matched her own, and he assumed that it was a doll made in her likeness.

"You've got a really nice room, here," he said with a slight nod.

Quinn smiled silently and draped his jacket over the chair in the corner before she pushed the door to her private bathroom open and turned the light on. She motioned for him to follow him and turned the faucet to the sink to let the water run. Finn followed her inside and reached for one of the hand towels draped over the bar next to the door. He ran it under the water and reached for the stain on Quinn's dress tentatively. It seemed as though the thought of brushing his hand so close to her chest made him nervous because he didn't want her to think that he was a cad who was just trying to find an excuse to cop a feel.

"Don't worry about it," she said quietly, understanding what he was thinking.

He smiled a half smile and began attempting to wipe the soup off of her yellow dress with the towel.

Still biting her lip, Quinn reached up to push her hair behind her ear to give her something to do so she wasn't just staring at him. But she couldn't help but watch as he seemed so determined to rid her dress of the stain. Sensing her eyes on him, Finn looked up and their eyes locked for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Fabray, but I don't think this one's coming out. Maybe you should have it dry cleaned," he said with a slight frown.

Quinn nodded and reached to grab the towel from him, her fingertips grazing his as she did.

"I thought that might be the case. But thank you for trying nonetheless," she said with a small smile.

Finn nodded and stepped out of the bathroom to leave.

"If you ever need anything fixed or just need a pair of strong hands to carry something, here's my card," said Finn as he reached into his back pocket for his card in his wallet.

Quinn grabbed the card and made note of the office he could be found in on the lot and looked back up at him with a smile.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, following him to the door of her dressing room.

"I'll see you around, then. Maybe."

Quinn looked down at the card again and leaned against the edge of the door as she watched him walk away.

"Maybe…"

She turned to head back into her dressing room when she heard her name being called from the opposite end of the hall. Turning around again, she saw Jesse coming towards her. Her mood immediately grew sour once more as she remembered how he had practically picked that nobody's side in the commissary earlier.

"What do you want?" she asked, turning to go back inside her dressing room.

Jesse followed her in and shut the door behind him. Quinn didn't even bother to pay him very much attention. After setting the business card down from Finn on her vanity table, she simply reached into her closet for another one of her expensive dresses and stepped behind the changing partition to begin to undress.

"You didn't go down to see L.B., did you?" he asked, leaning against the door.

"No. I did not," she muttered bitterly. "If I knew her name, I might have. But trust me, Jesse. If I run into that little weasel again and she gets in my way, she'll get what she deserves."

Jesse raised an eyebrow and sat on the couch against the wall.

"Don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously? It's just a dress and it was just an accident," Jesse said as he leaned back and placed his feet up on the coffee table like he knew she hated.

"Why do you care so much about someone you don't even know? She's a nobody around here. She's completely expendable. You shouldn't be mingling with someone so low," she said, feeling like a hypocrite the moment the words escaped her lips because of how much she enjoyed talking to Finn just moments before.

Jesse stood up and leaned against the vanity table, spotting the business card right next to her perfume. He opened his mouth to ask who Finn Hudson was, but promptly closed it. He really didn't care because it really wasn't his business. Looking up, he also noticed the jacket that was definitely not his draped over her chair.

"Just take it easy and leave the poor girl alone if you ever run into her again. It was a mistake. Seeing as you don't like mingling with people below you, I doubt you'll ever encounter her again," he said with a shrug.

Quinn sighed and stepped out from behind the partition.

"Can you zip me up?" she asked as she approached him and turned around.

Jesse nodded and zipped her dress up quickly without stealing a touch or glimpse at her bare back. His mind was too busy elsewhere to even think about that right now.

"You should go get changed," Quinn said when she turned around.

She placed her hand on his arm and gently pushed him towards the door. Jesse didn't even bother to protest and nodded as he left.

"Jesse?" she called, leaning against the open door.

He turned around and glanced at her curiously.

"Where are you going after you get changed?"

He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"I'm off to the rehearsal studio to play a few songs… you know, take it easy," he replied.

She nodded silently and turned to go back inside, but stopped.

"Are we on for tonight?" she asked, smiling weakly.

Jesse matched her weak smile and nodded.

"I'll be there."

* * *

><p>"Rachel. You said your name's Rachel, right?" Kurt asked as he motioned for her to join him up on a pedestal in the costume warehouse.<p>

Rachel smiled and nodded, stepping up with him.

"I'll just have to take your measurements and determine your exact size before I'll find something for you," he said, pulling a measuring tape from his jacket pocket and unrolling it.

"Thank you for doing this for me," she said quietly as Kurt held the measuring tape around her waist and made a mental note of the measurement.

"Honey, you looked like a kicked puppy. I couldn't just do nothing," he said as he began measuring her bust.

"Thank you, anyway. It means a lot. Especially because I have yet to make a name of myself and you're such a well known designer around here," she said with a slight shrug.

Kurt's eyes brightened at her words.

"For that, you'll get an extra special dress," he said with a wink. "Just don't be like St. James and get it messed up because then I'd have to kill you."

Kurt stepped off the pedestal and pulled the siding door to the costume racks room open. He motioned for Rachel to follow her and began immediately browsing through the dresses around him. There were so many different kinds of costumes, ranging from period gowns and even some native American outfits in the corner. Off in the distance, she could spot some suits of armor that had to have been used in the movie that revolved around knights in Europe that had just been released a few months ago.

As she was busy looking around at all the outfits around, Kurt was still busy pulling out potential dresses for Rachel to wear.

"How about this one?" he asked, pulling out a pink one with a white trim.

Rachel's eyes widened at the sight of it. It was probably more expensive than she was worth.

"Do you really want to trust me with that?" she asked, reaching up to run her hand along the soft fabric.

"Don't make me change my mind," he replied with a raised eyebrow.

Smiling softly, Rachel reached out for the dress and walked back into the other room to change into it. It fell to her mid calf and fit her perfectly as though it were made for her.

"Looks great on you," muttered Kurt when he entered the room.

Smiling widely, Rachel hopped off the pedestal and lunged at Kurt for a hug. Taken off guard by this, Kurt froze for a moment before wrapping his arms around the petite brunette.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Hummel," she squealed before pulling away from the hug.

Kurt shook his head and reached at her sleeves to smooth the fabric down.

"You don't look a day older than me. Call me Kurt, okay?" he insisted as he walked around her to make sure the dress was perfect on her.

Beaming widely at him, she nodded and walked up to the full length mirror against the wall. Kurt walked up behind her and pulled out a handkerchief to rub the tomato sauce from her face. It was then that she realized that she was still clutching Jesse's handkerchief in her hand. Part of her knew that she should probably give it to Kurt to give it back to Jesse, but the other half of her wanted to hold onto it as a sort of good luck charm for her audition. There was no harm in it, anyway.

"Okay, Kurt," she smiled, pocketing the handkerchief in one of her dress pockets.

Kurt smiled and placed his hand on her back as he led her out.

"Let's get you to your audition now. Who are you auditioning for?" he asked, pulling the door open and stepping aside for her to exit.

"Schuester and Sylvester," she said tentatively.

They were two of the biggest directors on the lot and she knew that if she couldn't impress them, she'd be out of luck at MGM.

Kurt nodded and set off in the direction of the rehearsal studio with Rachel following closely behind.

"Whatever you do, don't take anything Sue says to heart. William is a lot nicer but isn't too bright. Be prepared to hear them argue because they never get along. Mr. Mayer insists that they work together, though, because they make magic together. Something about the two of them just makes brilliant musicals," he explained.

"Noted," Rachel muttered, reaching up to twirl her hair anxiously. "Kurt, I don't think I can do this…"

Kurt stopped and spun around on his heel.

"Don't give me that. Chin up, kid. Judging by your breakdown in the commissary, I know you really want this. You just have to go in there and show them what you've got, okay? Take no prisoners," he said, reaching out to hold her by the shoulders.

Rachel straightened up and nodded.

"You're right. I'll just go in there and let them know that I'm Rachel Berry and I mean business," she said confidently.

Kurt's lips pulled into a smile at her confidence.

"That's the spirit. Go get 'em."

Rachel was just bursting with happiness from the kind of support she was getting from people so far above her who didn't even know her. She flung her arms around Kurt one last time before almost skipping into the rehearsal studio for her audition.

* * *

><p>Jesse had just finished changing back into the suit he had worn coming into the studio that morning when he set off down the lot to the rehearsal studios. He knew that it was where most of the auditions took place and couldn't help but give into his curiosity to see the brunette from the commissary sing. He just wanted to see if she was actually good. Deep down, he really hoped she was and couldn't really understand why he felt this way.<p>

Pulling the door to the studio open, he crept inside and sought out where the brunette might be. Hearing the faint sound of a piano in the distance, Jesse followed it and found himself standing in the corner of one of one of the empty sound stages.

In the center of the stage was a piano with both Will Schuester and Sue Sylvester leaning against it. The pianist, Brad, sat there playing the introduction to the song for the brunette's audition piece. When Jesse spotted her standing at the other side of the piano, his lips pulled into an instant smile. Not wanting to make her nervous if she knew he was there, he crouched behind a large plant in the corner so he could listen without being seen.

As she launched into "You Made Me Love You" Jesse watched in a totally mystified state. He couldn't believe how someone so small could sing so powerfully. It was a voice unlike any other he had ever heard before in his life. He couldn't get over just how much passion she injected into the lyrics as well as how beautiful she looked when she sang. It was evident that this was her true love and mattered most to her in just how much care she put into her performance. That was something Jesse could really admire because he took his own performing just as seriously.

He watched as she circled the piano and looked straight at the directors who were judging her at that very moment. He tried to read their faces for any sign of how they were receiving her performance. Will seemed to be enjoying the performance and was too far into it to take any notes. Sue on the other hand watched with dead eyes as she scribbled away without looking down at what she was writing. He could see Rachel's face lose its confidence for a moment at the sight of Sue's glare. He held his breath for a moment, hoping it wouldn't affect her voice, but she managed to get it back and pull through.

When she finished the song, Jesse felt the urge to applaud, but refrained. He still didn't want her to know that he was here. He watched eagerly as he waited for Schuester and Sylvester to respond.

"Wow… that was…" Will started, obviously at a loss for words.

Rachel smiled hopefully and rubbed her hands together anxiously as she waited for more feedback.

"You have so much potential—"Will started, but was cut off by Sue's scoff. "What, Sue?"

Sue grabbed her glasses from the top of the piano and put them on. Circling around to where Rachel stood, she looked down at her as though sizing her up.

"Do you honestly think she'd fit any of the roles in the picture?" she asked with a glance up to Will.

"Definitely. Did you just hear her sing?" Will asked, pointing to Rachel.

"I can also act, too. If you wish for me to demonstrate—"

"Shut it, pip squeak," Sue snapped. "The fact of the matter is, we can't work with a girl who is this small. And just look at her face."

Jesse clenched his fists and gritted his teeth at her words. He saw Rachel's smile fade immediately and wanted nothing more than to storm over there and give Sue a piece of his mind.

"Her smile isn't that bad but her nose…" she trailed off, tutting softly under her breath.

Rachel brought her hands to her nose and closed her eyes to fight back tears. He could tell just how strong she was trying to be so she wouldn't give Sue the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"She's beautiful, Sue," Will said in her defense.

"Sure. But she's no Quinn Fabray. Quinn is the biggest female name in this studio and we want more people like her if we want to keep beating the other studios," Sue rationalized. "If we give her a role in one of our movies, we'll be a laughing stock. She looks twelve!"

"This girl can sing rings around Quinn Fabray any day and you know it!" Will snapped.

Jesse heard the sound of heels behind him and straightened up. He knew who it was before he turned around. Quinn stood there looking deeply hurt as she obviously just overheard what Will had just said.

"Quinn…" he whispered, but it was no use.

She turned around to storm out and Jesse didn't know whether or not he should bother following after her. Turning back to the situation by the piano, he watched as Will and Sue completely abandoned Rachel by the piano and set off towards their office to argue this matter some more. He watched as Rachel sat in the now empty piano bench and buried her face in her hands to cry.

Clenching his fists, he stormed right past her and followed Sue and Will.

"What are you doing?" he heard Quinn ask right behind him as she had obviously turned around to see if he'd follow after her.

"Making sure they do the right thing," he replied without so much as a backwards glance.

Rachel poked her head up at the sound of their voices, but they had sped by so fast, she didn't see them. She was so overcome with sadness over what just happened, that she dismissed it and buried her face in her hands once more.

Jesse reached the office and pounded his fist on the door, not even bothering to wait for them to open it and inviting himself in.

"Oh great," Sue muttered under her breath as Jesse stormed inside.

"What the hell was that?" he snapped at her.

"Excuse me? Who are you to talk to me like that?" shouted Sue.

"How could you ignore such talent back there?" he shouted back.

"Jesse! Sue! Stop!" Will shouted over them both.

"You two would be idiots not to give her the part," Jesse said in a lower tone this time.

"What part are you considering her for anyway?" asked Quinn, stepping inside with her arms crossed.

Everyone stood silent for a moment at Quinn's words.

"Lana in _Loveless Romance_," Will replied quietly.

"That's the lead!" shouted Quinn with her hands on her hips.

"She's not getting it," started Sue.

"Quinn, we know you wanted that part but it's a heavy singing role and we need a female lead with a stronger voice. Your singing is wonderful, but we just need something—"

"Are you kidding me? If it wasn't for me, this studio would be in the dumps right now!"

Jesse raised an eyebrow at Quinn and shook his head.

"Excuse me?" he said with wide eyes. "This studio was doing perfectly well before you came along when it was just me, you know."

"Quinn. We want you to play Penelope. It's a really important role. You'll still get top billing with Jesse!" Will tried to rationalize.

"You don't think I didn't hear what you said about me back there? About my singing?" she snapped back, stepping forward to him.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" shouted Sue with her hands in the air. "Fabray. Get out of here. Its none of your business who we decide and whatever we choose to do, you're going to like it. If you want to whine, go cry over a candy bar like you always do!"

Jesse stepped up behind Quinn and placed his hand on her back supportively but she pulled away from him.

"We're not done here," she spat through gritted teeth before turning on her heel to storm out.

Jesse turned to leave with her but stopped when he heard Sue call his name.

"St. James… we might just give this girl a chance. But only if we can make her a bombshell. We've worked miracles before…" she said, leaning against Will's desk.

Jesse looked over at her incredulously.

"Are you blind?" he asked with a shake of his head. "That girl is gorgeous. She doesn't need to be changed at all. It's your sick way of thinking that needs to be changed."

Sue didn't offer a response. She simply grabbed the clipboard that Will was holding and signed it.

"There. You have my agreement. But she'll get an MGM Makeover first. Take it or leave it."

Gritting his teeth, Jesse turned to storm out just as Quinn did. Slamming the door behind him, he set off to leave, but stopped when he saw that brunette that had been the focus of this entire argument still sitting at the piano. He could hear her playing "Over the Rainbow" as she sniffled through her tears.

Sighing softly, he walked up to her and leaned against the side of the piano.

"I'd give you my handkerchief, but you already have it," he said with a small smile.

Rachel smiled weakly up at the young man and stopped playing. She reached into her pocket for the handkerchief and dried her eyes.

"No, no. Don't stop playing," he said softly, moving to sit down next to her. "Will you sing it for me?"

She looked down at the keys and shook her head.

"I can't…"

Jesse rolled his eyes and began playing the song himself.

"Yes you can. I heard you singing before. You're brilliant, you know."

Rachel looked up at him curiously with her wide eyes.

"You think so?"

"I do. So, sing for me?" he asked as he repeated the introduction on the piano.

She smiled up at him and nodded. When she opened her mouth to sing, he stopped playing.

"One question before we start. What's your name?" he asked. The question had been gnawing at him all day.

"Rachel Berry," she said, straightening her posture and smiling up at him.

Jesse reached his hand out for her to shake it.

"Hello, Rachel. I'm Jesse," he said politely.

Rachel giggled and grabbed his hand.

"I already know who you are, though."

Jesse shook his head and held her hand in his.

"You know Jesse, the star. I want to introduce you to Jesse, the guy who thinks you're incredibly talented and wants you to succeed. The guy who thinks you shouldn't listen to a word that woman said back there because you're beautiful as you are. The guy who knows you're going to be a star."

Rachel had forgotten how to breathe for a moment. It felt as though she was in one of Jesse's typical love scenes. Right now she was feeling the same sort of mystified feeling she felt when she watched him in the movies. He just spoke so eloquently that she was simply captivated. But he wasn't speaking words from a script. He was actually speaking from the heart and that meant so much more.

"Do you really mean that, Jesse?" she asked softly.

"I wouldn't stay it if I didn't," he replied, reaching up to brush away a tear that had escaped at his words. "Will you sing for me now?"

She bit her lip and nodded as she turned on the bench to face the piano. Jesse smiled and played the introduction to the song again as he anticipated her to start singing. His smile only grew when she began singing the lyrics to "Over the Rainbow". She sang it so beautifully and he just couldn't get enough of it. After a few moments, he couldn't resist the urge to jump in. So he did.

Their eyes locked for a moment in the middle of the song as they both realized just how good they sounded together. It was as though their voices were made for each other.

Standing back in the hallway behind them were Will and Sue who watched them intently. They too noticed just how good Rachel and Jesse sounded when they sang as a team. It was just undeniable.

"That girl is going to go places if we team them up. It'll be even bigger than Jesse's and Quinn," Will said quietly so only Sue could hear. "You can't deny that."

"Yeah… what do you know…"

* * *

><p>Rachel unlocked the door to her apartment and pocketed her key once she was inside. She had about an hour until she had to be at her second job and had to hurry up if she wanted to make it in time.<p>

"I'm home!" she called out to her roommates.

"Berry, get over here and have a cigarette with the rest of the girls," she heard Santana call from the living room.

"_You know I don't smoke_," she replied in a sing song voice as she hung up her jacket on the coat rack.

She couldn't help but cringe at the smell of all the smoke in the living room as she walked in.

"I don't care if everyone is doing it. That can't be healthy," she muttered, waving her hand around to clear the smoke.

"Smoking is sexy," Santana said with a shrug before blowing a smoke ring over at Rachel's face.

Rolling her eyes, Rachel turned her attention to Brittany who was leaning against Santana on the couch.

"How did your audition go?" she asked, now giving up on trying to breathe clean air.

"I got lost and ended up locked in Studio 6 for three hours before one of the janitors got me out," she explained with a sigh.

"That's terrible..."

"Yeah, I had an audition at Fox today. They said I had too much attitude. What the fuck does that even mean?" Santana scoffed.

"No idea…"

She turned her attention to the third roommate sitting across from them.

"Mercedes? Didn't you have an audition for Warner Brothers today?" she asked, hoping to hear some good news.

"They said I was too black," she replied quietly. "I'm sick and tired of only getting cast as some white girl's maid."

Rachel bit her lip and moved over to sit next to her.

"Maybe you'll have better luck at Metro… ", she said hopefully.

"Yeah… maybe…"

"What about you, Berry? How did yours go?" Santana asked after putting her cigarette out in the ash tray on her lap.

"Not too great. They said I didn't have the right look…But I have yet to hear their final decisions. So..."

"You don't look so broken up about it, though," Mercedes observed.

"Well… my day wasn't completely terrible. I met someone…"

"If you're talking about Jesse St. James, you didn't meet him. You got my spaghetti all over him," Brittany said, still pouting over her lost lunch.

"Jesse St. James, huh?" Santana asked with a raised brow. "He's off limits, though. Look."

She tossed Rachel one of the magazines on the coffee table that had Jesse's face all over it. Rachel couldn't help but smile at the sight of his face in her hands. When she flipped to the article in the center, her smile widened at the other picture of him looking so handsome in a suit. But when she saw the headlines of the article, she felt her heart completely clench.

**_Wedding Bells in the Future for Jesse St. James and Quinn Fabray?_**

* * *

><p>In a bar on the other side of Hollywood, Jesse sat at a small table holding a drink. He was sitting across from his friend and future co-star, Blaine Anderson.<p>

"I thought you'd changed plans to meet up with Quinn tonight?" he asked, bringing his own glass to his lips. "You two have a fight or something?"

Jesse sighed and shook his head before draining his glass completely.

"You and I both know that relationship is a sham that the studio cooked up for the press to sell more movie tickets."


	3. Photo Shoots & Bowls of Soup

"St. James."

Jesse turned in his dressing room chair towards the door where Kurt Hummel stood holding the suit he was supposed to be wearing for the photo shoot that day.

"Good morning to you, too, Kurt," Jesse greeted with a smile.

"Don't good morning Kurt, me," he muttered back as he hung up the suit on a hook next to the door.

It always amused him how Kurt seemed to respond this way whenever he was irritated with him.

"What did I do now?" Jesse asked with a sigh.

Kurt rolled his eyes and walked up behind Jesse to fix up his hair for the shoot. There wasn't much left for him to do because Jesse's hair was always naturally superb in every way possible. Looking up at the young man in their refection in the mirror, he passed a comb through his curls and shook his head.

"I just came from Quinn's dressing room to drop off her wardrobe for the shoot," Kurt informed him.

"Oh?" Jesse muttered back in a tone that made it obvious that he didn't really care.

"Oh? The woman is livid. The mention of your name made her nearly throw her Quinn Fabray porcelain doll at me," Kurt explained in utter irritation. "What on earth did you do to her?"

When Jesse only laughed in response, Kurt whacked him over the head with the comb and pursed his lips together.

"I could have been maimed because of you," he muttered.

"You would have been fine, Kurt."

"Right," he muttered back as he went back to grab the suit for Jesse to change into. "So? What did you do?"

Jesse grabbed the suit from him and began undressing to change into it.

"I stood her up when we were supposed to have yet another one of her beloved publicity dinners," he explained.

"Oh you're dead," Kurt muttered in a frightful hushed tone.

Jesse merely shrugged before grabbing the shirt he was supposed to wear and pulled it on.

"Trust me. I'll live."

"You were out with Rachel, weren't you?" Kurt asked with an arched brow.

Jesse shot him a look and shook his head.

"No, actually. I wasn't," he replied as he continued to suit up. "I was having drinks with Blaine if you must know. Don't you recall me mentioning it the other day?"

Kurt's eyes widened and he quickly sprang up to help Jesse straighten his tie like he usually did.

"So, how is the guy?" he asked, looking up at the star hopefully.

Jesse smirked and shook his head.

"He's single, you know," he muttered before turning towards the mirror to make sure he had the level of perfection that he required for himself.

With his eyes still wide, Kurt nodded and smiled, turning away to hide the way his cheeks stained at Jesse's words.

"Anyway, off to face the beast, myself," Jesse declared as he headed towards the door.

"Well I hope she doesn't bite your head off. That would be tragic for your hair," Kurt muttered as he waved goodbye.

Jesse smirked and rolled his eyes at his words. After exiting his dressing room, he bypassed Quinn's room and went straight for the soundstage where the photo shoot was taking place. While Jesse normally loved photo opportunities for all the gossip and movie magazines, he really wasn't looking forward to having a shoot with Quinn today. He was still irritated with her over her petty treatment of Rachel and he knew that she was more than livid with him for leaving her hanging on their date night last night. It wasn't that he was concerned with how angry she'd get as much as he just didn't want to have to deal with her right now.

Stepping in front of the camera, Jesse saw the photographer and reporter there ready to get the latest scoop and pictures for next week's magazine. He shook hands with both of them and was about to answer a few questions when he heard the distinct sound of Quinn's high heels clicking nearby. He quickly turned to face her and gave her a staged smile which she didn't return. She really did look as though she was about to bite his head off. Her eyes were full of such fiery rage that he swore that they'd burn him if she stared at him like that any longer. Not wanting to show any weakness, though, he casually strolled up to her and put his hands in his pockets.

"Well you look lovely," he muttered, looking her up and down.

"Really, Jesse?" she replied, her eyes narrowed in fury. "If you think—"

"Nah uh, Quinn," he muttered, putting a finger to her lips, hoping she wouldn't actually bite it off. "There's a reporter over there just dying to publish a story about us. Do you really want them to know there's trouble in paradise?"

Jesse didn't really mind either way, but he knew that Quinn cared far too much about their status as a perfect couple to ruin it, especially with Rachel Berry possibly taking her spot as his leading lady. He was confident that he would have a lasting career with or without Quinn now. His future was certainly bright while hers was on the verge of wasn't that Jesse didn't care about her career. He wasn't heartless. All the time that he had spent with Quinn in their staged relationship had actually given him some sort of affection for the blonde. He wanted her to be happy and successful as much as he wanted the rest of his friends to be. But Quinn had a way of making him less sympathetic towards her with the way she treated those whom she considered beneath her.

Rachel Berry, for instance.

Jesse didn't know much about Rachel Berry yet, but he knew that he liked her. He wasn't sure to what extent right now, but the feelings were definitely there. Her talent was remarkable and he couldn't wait to get the chance to work with her. Thinking about her now had him wondering if Schuester or Sylvester had told her that she got the part in the movie next to him yet. Thinking of her brought an odd smile to his face that he didn't really realize he was doing.

Quinn glanced from him to the reporter before putting on her own version of a show face and approaching them to give them a warm greeting. They both agreed to take pictures first and silently stood next to each other while the photographer finished setting up.

Jesse noticed Quinn's eyes following one of the men helping him and he raised a curious eyebrow at her because of it.

"Isn't he…" Jesse began, biting back a smirk.

"No idea what you're talking about," Quinn replied, looking away from Finn when he gave her a small smile and wave.

"Uh huh," Jesse muttered.

"Okay, I'm ready if you two are," said the photographer as he stepped behind the large camera.

Jesse placed his hand at Quinn's waist and looked into her eyes with an entirely false lovingness that everyone but the two of them thought was real.

"Beautiful," said the photographer as they moved even closer.

Their lips were so close to touching, but they never did. It was all for the picture, anyway.

"Next time you better not leave me for a few drinks," she hissed so only he could hear.

Jesse grabbed her hand and held it close as they moved into another intimate pose.

"What makes you so sure that there will be a next time?" he asked, giving her a quick raised brow before resuming his pose.

He turned her around so that her back was against his chest and let his lips graze her temple for another shot.

"What are you talking about?" she whispered, turning in his arms and pulling his face closer for the next shot.

"I'm saying that you shouldn't be so confident that I'm going to continue playing this little game," he murmured.

Quinn once again filled up with anger at the man, but had to do her best to stifle it.

"Do you know how many men would give anything for the chance to go out with me?" she whispered before giving the camera a wide grin.

"Then why don't you go out with them?" he asked through his teeth as he smiled at the camera.

Quinn pursed her lips and shot him a glare that only he could see.

"Oh how I can't wait to be done with this shoot so I can get out of your arms," she growled under her breath.

Jesse grabbed her and dipped her in a romantic pose as he leaned in for a slow and tender kiss for the next picture. Hearing the camera flash, he pulled away and let go of her completely.

"Trust me, honey. The feeling was mutual," he muttered before heading over to the reporter.

Quinn passed her hand over her hair and stepped away from him to have her makeup touched up by the artist nearby. As her lips were getting redone, her eyes travelled over to where Finn stood in the corner watching the entire shoot awkwardly. He didn't look so comfortable after witnessing her kiss with Jesse, and it amused her slightly. She made a mental note to speak to him later.

Off the side of the stage, the door opened and a petite brunette walked briskly inside before freezing at the sight of the photoshoot setup. She spun around looking for the piano which was usually there, but realized that it was probably moved for the shoot. Cheeks reddening with embarrassment, she tried to leave, but Jesse noticed her presence before she could.

"Rachel?" he called out, walking over to her with a grin.

"Oh… Jesse," she muttered, looking completely flustered. "I was just hoping I could rehearse a little before my next audition. I figured I'd try for as much as possible if I didn't get the part in _Loveless Romance_…"

Jesse's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at her words. Had Schuester & Sylvester still not told her that she had gotten the part? Did they change their minds?

"I could help you rehearse later, if you want," he offered.

Rachel's eyes lit up immediately at his suggestion. Biting her lower lip, she nodded and tried to ignore the heat rising in her face that would of course make her look as red as a tomato.

"I'd love that," she said with another nod.

"Great. Stick around and wait for me? We're almost done here, anyway. I just have to give a quick interview," he said as he stepped back towards the reporter.

The reporter gave them both a smile and held her pencil to her notepad eagerly.

"If you two can just answer a few questions, we'll get out of your hair as soon as possible," she promised.

"Ask away, then," said Quinn, placing her hands on her hips and eyeing Rachel for a moment before quickly looking back at the reporter.

"So how was it like working together on the last film? You just wrapped it up, right?"

"Yes, we did," Jesse answered quickly before Quinn got the chance. "It was such a great experience working with someone who I care about so much. It doesn't even feel like work at all."

He and Quinn both exchanged staged smiles before looking back at the reporter.

"So, we keep hearing rumors of wedding bells. Are they true?"

Off on the side of the room, both Rachel and Finn quickly looked up at Jesse and Quinn to see what they were going to say. Neither Jesse nor Quinn noticed this because they were so "in character" for their interview, that they didn't see.

"Well…" Jesse began.

"You never know," said Quinn.

"She certainly would make any guy a great wife someday," he said, placing his hand around her waist and pulling her close.

"Him, perhaps!" she added.

"Well, we'll make sure to keep an eye on your left hand for any huge diamond rings at the premiere, now won't we?" said the reporter with a chuckle.

Jesse and Quinn both exchanged smiles and laughs as they nodded.

"Last question. We've been hearing a lot about this next Schuester & Sylvester feature entitled,_ Loveless Romance_. I take it stars you two?" she asked, looking at both of the stars excitedly.

Quinn's smile drained from her face and Jesse ran his hand through his hair anxiously. Before either of them could respond, someone cleared their voice behind them. They both turned and saw Sue Sylvester herself standing there with her clipboard and two scripts.

"About that," she began with a smirk. "I was just about to give out the parts to our two leads."

Quinn's face lit up at her words and she reached her hands out for her script. Over in the corner, Rachel stood looking visibly crushed. Jesse looked incredibly shocked and confused.

"Here you go Jesse," said Sue, handing one to Jesse. "And the other one belongs to Ms. Rachel Berry."

The color absolutely drained from Quinn's face the second she processed what she had just heard. Off in the corner, Rachel squeaked with delight and rushed forward to claim her script.

"Rachel Berry? Who on earth is Rachel Berry?" asked the reporter.

Sue grabbed Rachel by her shoulders and pushed her next to Jesse before yanking Quinn away.

"She's our new star," she announced.

Her words sent the photographer into a frenzy as he began snapping as many pictures of her and Jesse as possible. Jesse wrapped his arm around Rachel's waist and pulled her in for a picture and she quickly gave the camera her best smile.

"These two can really be _movie magic_," said the reporter to Sue. "They just glisten together."

"That's the whole idea," she replied with her arms crossed as she watched the two of them continue to pose.

Nearby the photo set, Quinn stood with fists clenched and tears filling her eyes at the utter embarrassment that she was forced to endure just now. If they were really going to give the role to Rachel, did they really have to do it in front of a reporter? Now she was likely to be a laughing stock in the next issue of _Movie Magic_! Gritting her teeth, she groaned and made a run for her dressing room, but found herself crashing into the strong chest of Finn Hudson.

"That wasn't right," he muttered, looking up from Quinn to the publicity shoot going on a few feet away.

She looked up at him and straightened her posture, trying not to let him see that she was breaking inside.

"I didn't want the role, anyway," she lied, bringing her hand up to wipe a few tears that managed to escape.

"Yeah, you did. I can see it in your face. You look like a kid that just got a lump of coal on Christmas," he said with a frown.

"I just…"

"Forget them. You're still going to keep your status around here. You part the crowds when you walk around the lot and that's not going to change because you're not starring in one picture," he assured her.

Quinn smiled weakly up at him and wiped her eyes again.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, trying to hold herself together.

"I do," he nodded.

He was about to bid her farewell to get to his next job on the lot, but she grabbed his hand to prevent him from going.

"Finn?" she asked, tentatively biting her lip. "If you're not busy Friday night. Do you think you could fix something for me if you can?"

Finn raised an eyebrow at her question.

"What needs fixing?"

"I'm sure there will be something broken that needs fixing by then," she shrugged.

"How do you know something will break?" he asked, clearly not catching onto where she was trying to lead him.

"Finn," she said, taking a step closer to him. "I'm trying to ask you on a date."

Finn's look of confusion quickly changed to slight shock and he nodded in understanding with him mouth slightly open.

"Y-yeah. Definitely. A girl asking a guy out on a date? Wow, that's new," he chuckled.

"I'm a modern girl," she replied with a smirk and her arms crossed.

"Well it's a date then. But aren't you and Jesse…."

"It has to be secret for now," she whispered. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Finn glanced from Quinn up to Jesse for a moment as he thought it out. He really didn't like the sound of helping her cheat, but he had always had a thing for Quinn for a while now.

"Yeah, sure," he nodded, not one to ever turn down a date from Quinn Fabray.

"Well I'll see you on Friday, then," she said with a small wave as she stepped away and headed off towards her dressing room.

"Yeah, Friday. See you then," he replied, waving back slightly.

Back at the center of the soundstage, Rachel and Jesse wrapped up taking their pictures and bid the photographer and the reporter farewell. Once they were gone, they turned to each other with wide smiles.

Unable to contain herself, Rachel flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. He quickly reciprocated and held her tightly, picking her up and spinning her around.

"I got the part, Jesse!" she squealed.

"I knew you would!" he replied, pulling away and looking down at her.

"I just… I simply can't believe it! Just yesterday I was merely a chorus girl and they all said that I'd never be able to get a leading role no matter how great my voice was because I wasn't pretty enough to look the part. But look at me now! Look!"

Jesse's smile widened at her excitement. She was absolutely adorable right now.

"For the record, though, you are more than beautiful enough to be a star. Don't you ever doubt that," he assured her.

Her smile faded slightly in the slight shock she felt from his words. The one and only Jesse St. James not only believed in her, a show business nobody, but he also thought she was beautiful. He had reassured her about these things after her audition and here he was saying it all again.

"You're far too kind, Jesse," she murmured. "But I really don't deserve such words."

"And just why not?" he asked, raising his eyebrow at the brunette.

Rachel shrugged and leaned against the back wall.

"I'm no Quinn Fabray," she explained, casting her eyes downward sadly.

"Yeah, you're right. You're not."

Rachel looked up at him with a frown as he agreed with her.

"What I mean is, you're not Quinn Fabray because you're Rachel Berry. You don't need to look like her to get ahead because you have your own beauty. Trust me," he explained.

"Well, that may be so, but we still need to do some work if we want her to be star quality," said Sue, walking up to them with her clipboard.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Jesse, giving her a warning look.

"What I'm saying is little Ms. Berry here needs to take a trip to the Beauty Factory so they can fix her all up. We can't have our stars looking so…" she muttered, looking Rachel up and down. "Well looking like that. Hopefully she's fixable."

Rachel brought her hand up to her face, feeling around for what they could possibly try and change. Her hand stopped at her nose, and she knew exactly what they wanted to do.

"You're kidding, right? There's nothing about her that needs fixing!" he snapped.

"You keep talking but all I see is that hair just drowning in all that product. Have you and Schuester been using the same hairdresser? It's disgusting," she snarled.

Jesse's mouth dropped open. Rachel looked from Jesse to Sue with a look of shock on her own face because she simply couldn't believe anyone could possibly insult Jesse's hair.

"Now, if you two don't mind. I have a few chorus girls to go fire because their thighs are starting to get as thick as tree trunks," she said, clicking her pen closed and turning to walk away before stopping. "Oh and Jesse?"

Jesse gazed up at her with a look of pure hatred.

"Don't tell me how to do my job or you'll find yourself out on the streets faster than lighting. We made you so we can destroy you, too," she said menacingly.

"Like hell you ever could," he replied confidently. "Metro would tank without me."

"Don't be so sure. Stars are always in one day and out the next. Look at Quinn Fabray for example."

Jesse stepped back and looked down. She seemed to have made a point that made him a little less defensive towards her. Choosing not to say anything else, he put his hands in his pockets and nodded.

"Good. Ms. Berry, you can report to the Beauty Factory to be all glammed up on Friday morning. Don't be late."

That said, she turned and headed out of the studio without a backwards glance.

Both Rachel and Jesse stood there in silence, both hit hard by what just happened.

"You shouldn't have done that, you know," Rachel finally said.

Jesse turned to look at her curiously. "Done what?"

"Came to my defense," she replied. "I appreciate it, but I don't want you losing your job over me."

Jesse smiled weakly, but shook his head.

"I can't just step aside and let people lie to you about your beauty. You don't deserve to be treated that way," he explained.

"Still…"

"No. Let's just forget about it, okay?" he insisted.

"Okay. Consider it forgotten," she replied. "But Jesse?"

"Yeah?"

"You definitely don't use too much product in your hair. It's quite flawless, really," she said, reaching up to push a curl from his face.

Jesse sighed with relief and smiled down at her.

"I'm glad you think so."

He really was about to head straight to his dressing room and examine his hair to decide if what Sue said was in any way near correct. He was usually very confident, but any jabs at his hair from the higher ups always made him waver slightly.

"Let's go to the commissary and have some lunch together and then we can knock out a few songs on the piano after?" he asked, holding the door to the studio open for her to exit first.

"I'd love to!" she replied with a beaming grin.

They both casually strolled down the lot passed a few other well known actors as well as many extras dressed up in full gear for big production numbers later on. Jesse waved to a few and introduced Rachel to some that he knew. It really meant the world to her that Jesse was taking her under his wing and being so warm and inviting when he could be treating her the way Quinn was. She hadn't made a name for herself yet to earn the respect of her peers, but that didn't really seem to be necessary for Jesse. He simply liked her because of her talent and their shared interests and ambitions.

When they reached the commissary, Jesse led her to the VIP section and pulled a chair out for her before sitting across from her. The waiter came up to them to take their orders, holding a pen to a notepad.

"I'll have the special," Jesse said, grabbing his glass of water to take a sip.

"Excellent," said the waiter before turning to Rachel. "And you, Miss?"

"Oh, I'm starving. Is there any way I can have the spaghetti but with no meat or cheese. Please?" she asked, giving him a hopeful smile.

"We'll see what we can do," he replied, jotting down her order before heading off.

"Spaghetti, huh?" Jesse muttered with a cocked eyebrow.

They both remembered back to the spaghetti incident when they first met. Rachel's cheeks flushed in total embarrassment at the memory.

"I'm still sorry about that," she murmured.

"Forget about it," he shrugged.

"So this picture…" Rachel began, looking down at the script in her hands.

Jesse looked down at his and began flipping through it.

"Looks like a good one," he muttered.

"Do you think we could get together and rehearse sometime?" she asked, biting her lip anxiously.

She seemed to be doing a lot of that whenever she was with Jesse.

"Of course. We have to make sure we're as perfect as can be," he said with a smile. "However I do have a proposal for you."

"Do tell," she said, feeling a surge of excitement.

"How about I give you the grand Welcome to MGM tour tomorrow and we can spend the entire day having fun around the lot. I'll show you all the places you'll need to acquaint yourself with and we can get to know each other some more before starting the picture. How does that sound?" he asked, setting his script aside and looking over at her.

Rachel felt as though her face might actually break if she smiled any wider than she was right now.

"That sounds perfect, Jesse," she nodded.

"Perfect," he replied.

After a few more moments, their food was brought out to them. Jesse was given the lunch special which was a large roast beef sandwich with a small salad on the side. The waiter then handed Rachel a bowl of vegetable soup.

Rachel glanced down at it in confusion before looking back up at the waiter.

"Oh, she didn't order that," Jesse said, setting his sandwich down.

"Sorry guys. Orders say that whatever Berry orders, give her soup," he said with a shrug before heading off to the next table.

"But…" she tried to say, but it was no use.

Looking over at Jesse, she tried to hold back the tears that immediately began stinging her eyes.

"Rachel…" he whispered, putting his hand over hers.

"They want me to lose weight. Don't they?" she asked, looking down at the soup.

Jesse's heart clenched at her pain. He hated that they were doing this to her when she didn't need it. She was tiny enough as it was. How could they possibly think that she could afford to lose more weight?

"You don't need to lose weight," he assured her. "This studio is just… twisted."

Rachel sat staring at the soup with wide eyes. So this was what it felt like to be at the top. She always knew that she would have to make sacrifices for her dreams, and this was probably one of them. She had just thought that her weight was one of the things that never needed to be fixed. She made sure to always eat healthy and stay physically fit so she could be down to a perfect size. Obviously she hadn't been working hard enough. Nodding to herself, she silently wiped her tears away before grabbing her spoon.

"If this is what it takes to become a star… then so be it," she said, grabbing her napkin with her other hand and setting it on her lap.

Jesse looked down at his food, but he had lost his appetite completely. He remembered back to when Quinn first started out and they did the same to her. Now she was starving herself to maintain her status. Looking over at Rachel, he knew that he didn't want her to go through the same thing.

But, what could he possibly do?


	4. PreDate Date

Jesse didn't have any reason to be on the lot today other than because of his plans with Rachel later on. It was one of his incredibly rare days off now that the filming of his last picture had just wrapped up. Rehearsals for _Loveless Romance_ should start soon and he and Rachel would soon be thrust into the world of incredibly long and grueling rehearsals with choreographers from hell. Even though he could be at home relaxing or off anywhere else, he didn't regret coming in to the studio today one bit because he would be spending the day with Ms. Rachel Berry.

He had managed to arrive earlier than he had expected, so he went on a quick walk around the lot to say hello to a few friends. Walking up to the front gate, he pulled the door open to the guard's booth and sat down on top of his desk without a word.

"Well hello to you, Mr. St. James," said Sam, sitting back in his seat and shaking his head. "Nice of you to swing by."

"I have good news, Evans. You're going to love me," he assured him with a confident smirk.

"Okay, St. James. Lay it on me," he said, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"I got you an audition for_ Loveless Romance_. Before you get excited, it's not a huge part. But it'll surely get your foot in the door if you get it," he said, handing him a sheet of paper with the audition information.

"You're kidding!" Sam replied, shooting up from his seat like a puppy being offered a bone.

"Proof is all there, Sammy Boy," he said, pointing to the paper.

Sam grabbed it from Jesse and looked it over. Seeing his name on the list made him even more excited.

"I need to buy you a drink! Let's go to the bar after my shift?"

"Now, now. Don't get too excited. Once you get the part, which you better because I put a good word in for you with Schuester, you can buy me as many drinks as you please. But today, I'm afraid I have a rendezvous with a certain brunette co-star of mine for my next picture," he muttered with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that. Quinn must really be taking it easily," he said sarcastically.

"Tell me about it," Jesse muttered, rolling his eyes. "But she's still in it. She plays the part of my character's original girlfriend and they're in a—you guessed it—'Loveless Romance'."

Sam nodded in understanding and sat back down.

"Then comes what's her name—the new girl's character to whisk your character away for a real romance," he said.

"Her name is Rachel Berry, but yes. That's generally the storyline," he said with a nod.

"Rachel Berry. That's a cute little name," smiled Sam.

"She's quite a cute little woman. No kidding on the little part. She's so short. But its endearing," he insisted, laughing softly to himself.

Sam raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, letting the front legs lift off the ground slightly.

"You like her," he said with a smirk.

"No comment," Jesse replied, looking away innocently.

"Oh, yeah. You like her," he chuckled. "This is gonna piss Quinn off…"

"Keep it up, Evans…" Jesse muttered, giving him a small nudge with his foot that almost made him tip over backwards.

"Alright, alright," he replied, raising his hands in resignation.

"Yeah, good," Jesse muttered, hopping off of the desk and walking around him towards the door. "Anyway, off to meet her now."

"Try not and over do that St. James charm, lover boy," he chuckled.

Jesse shook his head and swiftly moved his leg to knock the chair backwards. Sam waved his hands madly in an attempt to grab onto something so as not to fall, but there was no use. He fell down hard on his back and groaned when he tried to push himself up.

"Okay, geeze. Did you really have to do that?"

"Just be at your audition, okay?" Jesse asked, bending down to playfully tap Sam's face.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there," he muttered, pushing himself up slowly.

"Good. I'll see you, then," he said, placing his hands in his pockets and heading back into the studio lot so he could go find Rachel.

* * *

><p>They had agreed to meet in front of the statue of Leo the Lion in the center of the lot. He strolled up to it and found the brunette already waiting there dressed in a lovely yellow dress. He walked right up to her, but she failed to notice his presence because she had her nose so deep in the script for <em>Loveless Romance<em>. He cleared his throat to get her attention and she quickly poked her head up from it in surprise.

"Jesse!" she squeaked, immediately putting the script away in her bag. "I'm sorry. I guess I was so distracted by my reading."

"What part are you on?" he asked curiously, leaning against the statue of the lion like he knew the studio head hated.

"The love scene," she said, looking down with a blush.

"I read it last night. It's really romantic, don't you think?"

"Incredibly so," she nodded.

"Well, shall we get to the grand tour?" he asked, holding out his arm for her to take.

"Yes, lets," she replied, smiling as she hooked her arm with his.

"Okay, you've already acquainted yourself with the costume department thanks to Kurt," he said, pointing to the building next to them.

"It's magnificent in there," she said with a nod.

"Should be for all the money the studio puts into it," he said, pulling the door open and stepping back so she can enter first.

Even though she had already gotten a chance to see the costume warehouse when Kurt helped her replace her stained dress before her audition, she still had wished she could get some real time to actually browse the selections for her own entertainment. Once she was inside, she grabbed Jesse's hand and immediately rushed towards a pink princess gown hanging in a rack near the corner.

"I wish I could wear something like this," she sighed, grabbing the skirt of the dress and holding it out to her legs.

"Why don't you," he replied, grabbing the hanger and handing it to her.

"I wouldn't get in trouble?" she asked, looking around for any sign of security.

"You're a star now, kid. That means you can do practically anything you want. It's high time you get used to it," he smirked.

Rachel was still having a little difficulty getting used to her new status around the lot. There were plenty of people who didn't know her name. Some of those who did scoffed at the mention of her name because she was "That nobody who got cast next to Jesse St. James in his latest picture". But she was going to prove them that Rachel Berry was indeed a somebody who was a force to be reckoned with.

Grabbing the dress from Jesse, she practically skipped over to the dressing room and quickly changed from her yellow dress to the princess costume.

"I hope it fits!" she called from inside the room. "If the studio thinks I need to diet, I may not squeeze into their standard sizes."

Jesse leaned against the wall next to the fitting room door and shook his head.

"Have you seen yourself in the mirror, Rachel?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" she replied, pushing the door open and stepping out in front of him.

Jesse's eyes scanned Rachel's body as he took in the sight of her in the pink princess gown that seemed to be perfectly tailored to her. The hand stitched bead work on the bodice that Kurt had probably spent days on looked incredible when worn on Rachel's body. The dress was a little long on her, given her short stature, but she still looked as radiant as ever in it.

"Wow," Jesse whispered as she spun around to give him a full view of the dress on her.

"What do you think?" she asked, grabbing onto the skirt and giving him a little curtsy.

"You're gorgeous," he whispered, unable to form any other words because she had completely taken his breath away.

Rachel brought one hand to her cheek and bit her lip. He was getting better and better at making her blush every time he tried.

"Thank you," she murmured as she reached down to smooth out the dress on her. "Anyway, what did you mean before when I was getting dressed?"

Jesse suddenly remembered what he was trying to say before she had completely stunned him with the sight of her in that gown. Reaching for her shoulders, he spun her around towards the mirror so she could look at herself.

"I asked if you even bothered looking at yourself in the mirror," he said, pressing up against her from behind.

Rachel's eyes scanned herself in her reflection and she couldn't help but smile. She had to admit that she looked good right now. Her smile was short lived, however, when she remembered about the grand makeover that she was supposed to get tomorrow morning.

"What's wrong with me that they want to fix how I look?" she asked quietly, bringing her hands up to her face and turning her head so she could look at her profile.

Jesse's smile faded at her question. Her voice was so vulnerable and hurt that he just felt like pulling her into his arms. The thought alone confused him because he had never felt that way for someone before. Even during the many times the studio put Quinn down, he never reached the point where he wanted to hold her and whisper words of love and encouragement.

"I'll never begin to understand the studio's impossible standards," Jesse muttered, letting his head rest on top of hers as he continued to look at her in the reflection of the mirror. "But you need to trust me when I say that there is nothing about you that needs to be changed. We're just going to have to find a way to make them see that. Any sort of modifications they may try and make on you will only lessen that natural beauty that makes you who you are. I'd hate to see that happen."

Rachel found herself leaning back against Jesse for more comfort. They may have been crossing some sort of line by being this close, but it still felt so incredibly warm and inviting. The fact that he spoke such tender and sincere words about how he felt she was beautiful as is made it even more comfortable and warm for her. She knew right there that if the tour ended here, she'd be content simply staying this close to Jesse all day.

She sort of felt bad for thinking such things when Jesse was in a relationship with Quinn Fabray- a relationship that was likely heading down the aisle according to all the gossip magazines—but she couldn't help how she felt. Even though she didn't know very much about him, she still felt this strange sense of home whenever she was with him. Everything just felt safe and right with him and she didn't think she'd ever get enough of it. It was quickly making her develop even more feelings that would likely make things worse later on, but she couldn't bring herself to care as much as she should now that she was so close to him.

"Are you trying to make me blush, Jesse?" she asked, turning in his arms and giving him a playfully suspicious frown.

"Maybe a little," he replied with a chuckle. "But I mean every word."

"You're too good at that, you know," she said, reluctantly breaking away from him so she could change back into her dress.

"I wish you'd believe me," he said quietly, his tone more serious.

She paused with her hand on the door and nodded silently before heading in and changing into her dress. Once the dress was safely back on its hanger and she was back in her usual clothes, she placed it back on the rack and followed Jesse out of the building so they could head off towards their next destination.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the lot, Quinn Fabray stood in front of the Tech building where she knew Finn stayed in between jobs on the lot. Looking down at the card he gave her that verified this was the right building, she pushed the door open and looked around for any sign of him. Spotting a young man with a strange hairstyle that looked like he had a dark strip of hair running down his head, she cleared her throat to attract his attention.<p>

"Well hello, hello. If it isn't Quinn Fabray," he said smoothly, leaning against the desk. "What can I do you for?"

"Why does your head look like you've got a squirrel's tail running down it?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

He sighed and ran his hand over his oddly styled hair.

"Lost a bet. The guys shaved part of my hair off as part of it," he explained. "But you know what? I think I make it look good."

Quinn raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Name's Puckerman. Noah Puckerman. But everyone around here just calls me Puck. You can call me the man of your dreams," he said smugly.

"Oh God, you're worse than Jesse," she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Oh, St. James? He's got nothing on me," he shrugged. "You just wait and see. Someday I'm going to be the biggest male model around here and I'm going to get picked up by a football team when I try out. I'll be known all around the country and every girl will be screaming my name."

"Really, now?"

"Really, really."

Quinn chuckled and looked away from him for any sign of Finn.

"Anyway, what brings you down to the home of the technicians and stage hands?" he asked, drumming his fingers along the edge of the desk he was leaning against.

"I was hoping I could find Mr. Hudson," she said, running her thumb over the card in her hand.

"Finn?" he asked, raising his eyebrow curiously. "What on earth do you want from him?"

"It's not exactly any of your business, is it?" she asked, giving him a stern look.

Puck raised his hands to back down, not wanting to poke the dragon any further. Turning his head, he looked around for any sign of the guy and sighed when he couldn't see him.

"HUDSON!" he shouted, seeming too lazy to actually go find him.

Finn poked his head out from a door at the end of the room and looked around. When he spotted Quinn, he straightened up and ran his hand over his messy hair in an attempt to make himself look a little more put together.

"Quinn," he said with a half smile, walking over to her.

Puck glanced between Quinn and Finn suspiciously.

"I was hoping you could help me fix something?" she asked, running one of her hands over her perfectly curled hair.

"Sure," he nodded, following her out of the building.

When they were safely far away from Puck, she sighed with relief and began heading towards the commissary.

"Where are we going? What do you need fixed?" he asked, looking around in confusion.

"Finn…" Quinn sighed, turning back to look at him. "You should know by now that when I ask you to fix something for me, I don't actually mean that I want you to actually fix something."

"That's so confusing, though."

Quinn reached up to smooth the collar of his shirt and smiled up at his confusion.

"You're cute, you know," she muttered before turning away to continue walking.

"Where are we going, then?"

"I was thinking we could have some lunch?" she said as she pulled the door to the commissary open and went straight for the front desk.

After muttering a few words to the host, he left for a moment before returning with a basket filled with only what Finn could assume was food. Licking his lips, he put his hands in his pockets as he waited for her to come back to him. She thanked the host and returned to Finn's side before leading the way to another location.

"Let me take that," he offered, not giving her a chance to refuse. "Where are we going now?"

"I thought we could have a picnic in one of the unused studios," she explained.

"Some place far away where nobody can walk in and notice that we were actually together?" he asked with a raised brow.

Quinn bit her lip and gave him an apologetic look.

"It has to be this way for now," she insisted.

"Fine. Whatever," he shrugged, following her off to the empty studio.

Once they were safely within the confines of the empty studio, Quinn grabbed a blanket from the basket and placed it in the center of the stage as Finn worked at the lighting booth so they could actually see what they were doing. When it was all set up, they both sat down next to each other and she began unpacking the picnic basket.

"I got a deluxe burger for you because I know how big your appetite must be after all the hard work you do," she said as she handed the box of his food to him.

"Quinn… you didn't have to. I could have paid for it," he said in embarrassment.

"I didn't pay a dime for it. Food is free for me around here," she explained as she reached into the basket for the bottle of wine.

"Wine, too?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What else do you have your meals with?" she asked as she reached for the glasses and pouring them out for them.

"A coke is usually the standard," he muttered with a shrug.

"Mother always said that you can't have a meal without a glass of wine. It simply isn't healthy," she explained, handing him his glass and picking up hers.

"What's this for anyway? I thought our date was tomorrow night."

Quinn looked down and shrugged.

"I didn't want to be alone today," she explained quietly. "Think of it as a pre-date date."

Finn noticed that she seemed upset and figured that it was still over what happened yesterday.

"Okay. But tomorrow, I pay for dinner, okay?" he said, giving her a look that told her that he would not back down on the matter.

"Fine."

"Great."

They both tapped their wine glasses together before drinking from them.

Finn grabbed his burger and took a bite, groaning at how amazing it tasted. As he chewed on his first bite, though, he noticed that Quinn didn't have any food out for her.

"What are you gonna eat?" he asked after swallowing and wiping his face on a napkin.

"I had a big breakfast," she said quickly, bringing the glass of wine back to her lips.

Finn eyed her suspiciously. Something was definitely off. She didn't look him in the eye at all when she said that and quickly ducked her face in her wine glass afterwards.

"Well if you want half of my burger, you're welcome to it," he offered.

She shook her head and set the glass down.

"Have a bite," he insisted.

"I could never eat something like that," she said, eyeing the burger hungrily.

"Just one bite?"

Quinn bit her lip and looked up at him, knowing that she couldn't fight it any longer. Not only was he convincing, but she was absolutely starving.

"Just one bite," she said, leaning forward to take a nibble.

"There is no way that that's a bite," he said, continuing to hold it out so she could take a real bite.

Quinn rolled her eyes and took a large bite, causing the juices from the meat to dribble down her chin. Finn chuckled and reached his thumb to brush it off before bringing it to his lips to taste it.

"Now that was a real bite," he said, grabbing a napkin to wipe the rest off her chin.

Quinn shook her head and sighed, grabbing her wine glass for another sip. She knew that she'd probably punish herself later for allowing herself to eat such fattening food, but right now it all seemed worth it.

* * *

><p>"Next on our grand tour is the rehearsal studio," Jesse said, pointing to the big building in front of them. "You'll grow to hate it like the rest of us eventually."<p>

Rachel smiled and shook her head as she followed him inside the building.

There were so many rooms of different sizes, all complete with giant mirrors along the walls so they could get a perfect view of their dancing. Some rooms were big enough to hold hundreds of people, while others were small and intimate for a select few.

Jesse pulled her inside a smaller one and went straight for the shelf of records in the corner to find something to play on the record player next to it. When he heard Rachel wince, he peered over his shoulder back at her curiously.

"You alright?" he asked, walking over to her and sitting down next to her on the bench.

"I'm fine," she insisted as she stretched out her legs.

"Did you pull something?" he asked, looking down at her feet.

"No… my feet just hurt. All the walking we did, you know?"

Jesse sighed and shook his head as he dropped down to his knees in front of her.

"You should have worn more comfortable shoes, you know," he said as he pulled off her heels and set them aside.

Rachel watching as Jesse grabbed one of her feet and began rubbing it to ease the pain she was feeling. Leaning back against the wall behind her, she smiled down at him and couldn't believe that he was actually doing this for her. He wasn't like all the other stars she had heard about—at least not with her.

"You don't have to do this for me, you know," she muttered as he grabbed her other foot and began giving it just as much attention as the first.

"It's no problem," he shrugged as he continued to massage her feet. "Does that feel good?"

Rachel looked down at him and bit her lip at his question. It was a simple question, and yet it filled her with so much desire for him that she knew was completely inappropriate. She knew that such thoughts were natural, but they weren't even together. He was even in a relationship with someone else. It simply wasn't right at all. Still, she couldn't bring herself to stifle the moan that escaped her lips in response to his question.

"Feels amazing," she murmured. "Thank you."

Jesse's mouth watered uncontrollably at the sound of her moan. If he hadn't already wanted her before, he did right now. But he knew that now was definitely not the right time for that. Things had to be done the right way if he wanted to be with her in any way, shape, or form.

"Better now?" he asked, looking up at her with a smile.

"Much."

Letting go of her feet, he nodded and pushed himself back up so he could resume his search for some music for them to dance to. He smiled when he found some dance orchestra music and slipped the record out of its case. Flipping it around in his hands, he carefully placed it on the turntable and placed the needle where it needed to be to start the music.

"May I have this dance, Ms. Berry?" he asked, holding out his hand for her to grab.

"Oh but of course," she replied, grabbing it and spinning in his arms so that she was against his chest once more.

He placed his hand at her waist and held her close as they began doing some of the popular steps that were the biggest craze right now. He knew them like the back of his hand because he had to learn them for many of the musicals he had done with Quinn. Rachel was able to keep up with his fast paced steps with ease because she had put just as much practice into her own dancing in an attempt to break free from her status as a chorus girl. All the work paid off incredibly.

They laughed as they danced easily to the song. When it was over, Jesse dipped her and found himself staring into her eyes for longer than he probably should. She was too busy being entranced by his eyes to notice.

"I really can't wait to work with you," he admitted as he pulled her back up to her feet.

"It's going to be quite an experience for me," she confessed, running her hands over her dress to smooth it out. "Getting to work with the star of MGM, himself."

"Oh please," Jesse muttered, moving over to the record player to replace it with something else.

Once he had the new record in place, he turned it on and the sound of a much softer tune filled the rehearsal space. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him so they could dance together slowly.

"Rachel, I am a star, but I don't want you to think of me as someone who is above you. We're equals now. As a matter of fact, given your incredible talent, we've always been equals."

"Thank you," she murmured before he twirled her slowly and pulled her back to him.

Jesse smiled and pulled her closer so they could dance more intimately.

"I really like you, Rachel," he murmured, looking down at her with eyes of affection.

Rachel looked up at him and could tell that he meant something much deeper than just normally liking a person. The look in his eyes and the softness in his voice said it all. He was actually interested in her in a way that one was when they were falling for someone.

"You do?" she asked, unable to break their eye contact even if she wanted to.

"I really do," he whispered. "Let me take you out to dinner."

Rachel's eyes widened as she processed the fact that Jesse St. James had actually asked her out on a date. She wanted so badly to just say yes, but the thought of his relationship status made it impossible.

"Jesse…" she murmured, pulling away from him and heading back over towards the bench.

Jesse's heart dropped as she pulled away from him. He followed after her and sat next to her as he waited for her to continue.

"What about Quinn?" she asked, looking over at him sadly.

At the mention of Quinn, Jesse sighed in relief and chuckled.

Rachel raised a confused brow at him, feeling completely baffled as to why he'd laugh right now.

"There's nothing going on between me and Quinn," he said, leaning his head back against the wall and looking over at the brunette.

"What do you mean? There's all this talk about the two of you possibly getting married and you didn't exactly deny it earlier," she said, crossing her arms.

"It's a sham, Rachel," he explained. "The studio thought it would be great publicity if their leading couple dated. The press ate it up."

Rachel gasped at the revelation and looked back at him for any sign that he was messing with her, but he looked completely sincere.

"So you want to secretly date?" she asked quietly, feeling sadness start to rise inside of her at the thought of being Jesse's secret.

"No," Jesse murmured, moving closer to her. "I don't want to hide. Let me deal with Quinn. Just go out with me?"

Rachel bit her lower lip as she quickly thought it out. Who was she kidding? There was no way that she could say no to such a night with the guy whom she felt herself falling for.

"Okay," she murmured.

"Tomorrow night?" he asked hopefully.

"Tomorrow would be lovely," she nodded.

Jesse smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek, but Rachel touched her hand to his face and moved his lips to hers. The kiss was short and sweet, but it still made fireworks explode beneath her eyelids. Pulling away slightly, she licked her lips and looked up into his eyes. It was definitely not the proper behavior a lady should be displaying, but Rachel didn't really care for what was conventional right now.

"That was good," Jesse whispered, licking his lips.

She smiled and looked down before getting up and grabbing his hand so they could dance to another song.

"If our date goes well enough, you might just get another one tomorrow night," she winked.


	5. Beauty Hurts

On Friday morning, Rachel Berry tentatively stepped through the front doors of the beauty factory building. All she could think about was that scene from The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy reached The Emerald City and the Ozians gave her and her friends makeovers before she was allowed to see The Wizard. Now in order for her to become a true star, she would need a makeover in the same kind of way.

Thinking about it that way made it seem a lot less scary. Actors needed to get made up for their roles, so it was only fitting that she go through the process. Perhaps even Quinn Fabray looked somewhat tragic like she did when she had just started out. Deep down, she knew that wasn't the case. Beauty like that couldn't be synthetic. It was the same for Jesse St. James. They were naturally perfect and she was silly to think that she would come close to that.

At least she had her talent. That was something she couldn't doubt. She knew that she was more talented than half the people at MGM. She knew that for sure and that pushed her through.

When she reached the front desk of the building, she cleared her voice and smiled at the secretary politely.

"Um… My name is Rachel Berry. I have an appointment," she murmured nervously.

"Rachel Berry?" the older woman asked, scanning her eyes down her book of appointments. "Ah, yes. You're going to go down the hall and to the left. Good luck."

"Thank you," she replied before setting off in the direction she was told.

Biting her lip softly, she knocked on the door and invited herself in.

"Step inside and stand in front of the mirror," ordered a man with dark hair who was surprisingly shorter than Rachel.

She quickly nodded and walked over to the full length mirror where his assistant stood with a body tape measure. She was a tall woman with dark hair pinned up in a bun and a tight expression that made Rachel wonder if she had ever smiled once in her life.

"I'm going to take your measurements and we'll go from there," she explained before wrapping the tape around her waist and chest.

Every time she checked the number, she seemed to tut or shake her head in disapproval.

"Is there something wrong?" Rachel inquired meekly.

"Don't speak. Masters are at work here," said the man from behind them with a clap of his hands.

Rachel quickly shut her mouth and turned around when told to. The woman took her height measurements and her feet measurements before she was finally done.

"Not a lot to work with," she said to the man with a look of disapproval. "Anyway, take a seat."

He gestured to a chair in the middle of the room that looked very similar one that you'd find in a dentist's office. Around the chair were all these mirrors and magnifying glasses that could be adjusted to any way they'd like to zoom in on the imperfections of their 'patients'.

Rachel took a seat and immediately squinted when a large bright light was turned on her.

"My name is Dakota Stanley, but that's Mr. Stanley to you. I will be making you beautiful today. Trying, anyway. This is my assistant, Joy."

The woman nodded curtly in Rachel's direction and didn't even crack the slightest of smiles. Rachel figured any attempt to might just break her face.

"Pleasure," Rachel murmured.

"We'll begin now. Joy, take notes."

Joy clicked a pen open and held a clipboard to her chest in preparation.

Mr. Stanley grabbed one of the large magnifying glasses and maneuvered it so it was over Rachel's face.

"Nose. Wrong. Completely wrong."

Rachel looked down, but Joy quickly snapped her finger at her.

"Look up!"

"Sorry, I—"

"You'd be smart to get a nose job, you know."

"You think so?" Rachel asked in a murmur.

"You wouldn't be the first one."

She shut her eyes and took a second to breathe so as not to fall apart right then and there. Right about now it was just about the hardest thing in the world.

"Jaw. Too masculine. We'll see what we can do."

Joy nodded and scribbled away on the list of Rachel's many imperfections.

"Eyebrows need to be reshaped…"

Rachel raised an eyebrow, but quickly tried to make her face neutral again before she got yelled at.

"Smile for me, Ms. Berry," said Mr. Stanley.

Rachel licked her lips and gave him a wide grin that she had practiced in front of the mirror for years.

"Well the teeth are alright. Could use some extra whitening. Can't have those things off white in a black and white picture, you know."

Rachel nodded and tried to keep her smile from falling at the constant criticism.

"Breasts far too small. We'll work on that so she can fit into her dresses."

Rachel's smile completely fell from her face and she looked down at her chest to see.

"Judging by her measurements, her rear end is too big."

He shook his head and wrote a few things down on the clipboard that Joy had been using.

"Alright, to work then. Up on your feet, Ms. Berry," he ordered her.

Joy snapped her fingers again and Rachel quickly shot up to her feet.

"Down to your under garments. We need to get a corset on you to give you the right figure the boss is looking for."

"If they were looking for someone else, then why did they pick me?" she asked as she unbuttoned her dress.

"If only I knew," the man replied before stepping out of the room.

"Alright. Arms up and don't move," said Joy as she began the process of lacing up the corset over Rachel's body.

"That's a little—"

"Tight? That's the point. Maybe if you gave up some meals, you won't need this as much. Think about that next time you're at the commissary," Joy remarked before beginning to tug on the strings even tighter.

"Ouch," Rachel squeaked.

"Try not to breathe so much," Helga snapped impatiently.

"Trust me… I can't," Rachel assured her, barely being able to speak from how hard it was to breathe in that thing.

"There. That's taken care of. Now back in the chair."

Rachel nodded and walked her way as best as she could back to the chair. She was really only able to slide her feet across the floor very slightly as she tried to get over there.

"Come on now, that's not how a star walks. With grace," said Mr. Stanley from the door.

"Sorry," Rachel whispered, biting her lip softly and trying not to grimace too much from the feeling of a thousand weights crushing her body in.

"Beauty hurts," reminded Joy.

"I know," Rachel murmured as she tried to sit back down, but just managed lying down against it with her head propped up.

"Next up… the hair and face."

"Make me over," Rachel said in false enthusiasm.

She _really_ had no idea what she was getting into.

Hours had passed and tons of modifications had been made. Yet through all of them, Rachel never let herself shed a tear. The fear of appearing weak to people above her when she was so close to stardom was just so strong, that she forced herself to take it all in stride and stay held together. If anything, the corset did a lovely job at that. Her mind was far too focused on trying to breathe that it was hard to really focus on all the makeup they were layering on her and how itchy the new blonde wig they gave her was.

"Alright. I think we're done," said Mr. Stanley as he stepped back to survey his masterpiece. "Ready to take a look?"

Rachel nodded and grabbed his extended hand to stand back up and take her small steps in her new five inch heels to see the new beauty that she was.

At the sight of herself, he eyes widened and she raised her hands to cover her mouth in complete shock.

"Oh my God," she whispered.

"Not quite perfection, but pretty darn close," beamed a proud Mr. Stanley. "Now, here's your new diet plan. Stick to it if you don't want that ass of yours getting any bigger. We're gonna take a few pictures and then be on our way."

Rachel nodded and did her best to pose naturally in the new look, but she didn't feel comfortable at all. Figuring it would take time to grow confidence in this new shell, she tried not to think very much of it.

"Not a shred of sex appeal. Why did they pick her over Fabray, again?" Mr. Stanley asked a silent Joy.

Pressing her lips together, Rachel turned back towards the mirror to observe herself again. Of course she had no sex appeal. She was no Quinn Fabray…

"Anyway, that's enough for today. We'll be in touch. Now, if you excuse me. I have another appointment. Come, Joy."

With that, they two both stepped out of the room and left Rachel by herself to get reacquainted with her new self.

With them out of the room, her lip quivered from the twinge of hurt that was threatening to pour out of her after holding it inside for so long. Shaking her head stubbornly, she stood tall and turned to take a look at her profile. If this was what they wanted, she'd have to live up to their standards.

She poked at her nose for a second and frowned at the feel of the rubber they had placed over it to try and keep her nose from dipping down too much.

For a second, she couldn't help but wonder what it was she was becoming. She was told it was a star, but she felt the farthest thing from Rachel Berry right now. In fact, she couldn't even recognize the girl in the mirror for a second. But still… she may not be herself, but she was beautiful. That's what mattered.

There was a light knock on the door and she quickly stood tall to appear as confident as ever.

"Just a second," she called out.

"Rachel? It's Jesse. Can I come in?"

Her stomach immediately did flips at the thought of seeing Jesse, let alone the thought of his reaction when he saw the new her.

"Come in!" she called out as she turned back to her reflection.

Jesse pushed the door open and shut it behind himself.

"I know we weren't supposed to see each other until later but I wanted to see if—"he started, but froze when he saw the woman standing there in front of the mirror. "Oh… I'm sorry, miss. I thought someone else would be here. I'll go now."

He awkwardly turned around and reached for the doorknob, when Rachel whipped around in confusion.

"Jesse, it's me!" she called out.

Jesse turned around slowly with his eyes wide in horror at what she had become.

"Well?" Rachel asked, biting her lip anxiously. "What do you think?"

Jesse opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"How do I look, Jesse?" she asked, her voice now lower from the nerves she was feeling after his silence.

"You look… you look…" He shook his head. "God, Rachel. What did they do to you?"

Her heart fell about two stories below the ground in a second.

"Oh… is it that bad?" she whispered.

"Where are you in there?" he asked as he stepped towards her.

He shook his head and reached a finger out to run down her arm, frowning even deeper when he saw all the light makeup rub off on his fingertip.

"They found a way to make your skin look ten times lighter," he stated in disapproval.

"Well, this is what a star needs to be. I'm simply living up to the standards."

"Bullshit. We're getting you out of all this stuff so you can look like yourself for our date tonight," he explained as he searched the room for something to clean her face off with.

"Alright. Wig off," he said quickly, grabbing onto the thing and tugging it back gently. "There's that gorgeous brown hair."

She smiled weakly as she slowly unpinned her dark hair and let it fall back down near her face.

"Now. Your nose doesn't look as cute as it usually does."

"Cute?" she asked with her eyebrow raised.

"Hmm… Ah. Here we go," he murmured as he ran his index finger along her nose and found that skin colored rubber they had applied. "Off we go."

"Ouch!" she cried as her hand snapped up to her nose to feel if he had taken some skin off with it. "Be careful, Jesse."

"Sorry," he shrugged.

Rachel tried to wiggle her nose a little now that she was free from that silly little thing.

"What else, what else?" he murmured to himself. "Oh god…"

His eyes had settled down at her chest where her breasts had obviously been enhanced a little.

"Take those out."

"But, I actually—"

"They're perfectly fine as they are."

She nodded and reached into her dress to grab the inserts that had been stuffed into her bra to give her a bigger size. She set them down on a small table next to the mirror and sighed.

"This whole dress fits me funny, now," she complained, grabbing the area around her chest and trying to hold it up better now that she had nothing to really fill it with.

"They can give you a dress that's your size next time, then," he replied, running his hand down her side and gently tapping at it. "You're wearing a corset, too? Alright. Enough."

As he unzipped the back of her dress, her cheeks turned a violent shade of red—at least, underneath the layers and layers of makeup Mr. Stanley had applied.

"Good luck getting that thing undone," she muttered as she watched him begin.

"This wouldn't be the first time I've rescued someone from the evil clutches of one of these things. Quinn used to get thrown into these all the time."

Rachel looked away at the mention of her.

"You helped Quinn get undressed?" she asked softly.

"Not like that. The girl was close to passing out."

"Oh. I feel like that right now, actually," she replied, running her hands over her sides.

He nodded and continued to undo all the clips that had been fastened over the pieces that were tied tightly.

"There we go," he muttered as he undid the last one and the corset was wide open.

Rachel took a huge breath and nearly fell against the mirror.

"Oh my goodness, that thing is a monstrosity."

"Glad to be of service."

"I guess I should get used to wearing that thing, though," she murmured as she stepped behind the changing screen and began working at changing back into her original dress she was wearing when she arrived here.

"I wouldn't say that. We're just gonna have to work harder in making them see how perfect you are as is," he shrugged.

She stepped out in her old dress and reached for a cotton pad and some makeup remover to get off the layers and layers they had piled on.

"I would hardly say I'm anything close to perfect," she mumbled as she pulled off the false eyelashes. "I'm sure Quinn Fabray didn't need all this."

Jesse grabbed another cotton pad and dabbed it with the makeup remover to help her get it all off.

"When Quinn got here, she wasn't a blonde and she was actually at a healthy weight. She smiled a lot more, too. Not that showface she uses now. She was actually happy with who she was. Now, I don't think anyone could ever hate her more than she hates herself."

Rachel looked up and felt a twinge of sadness. She felt terrible for her, especially now that she was losing her status because of her.

"I don't want to see that happen to you," he whispered. "Sometimes MGM has a way of killing people without actually killing them. I don't want that light in you to blow out. Don't let it."

She nodded and looked back to her reflection in the mirror. Most of the makeup was gone, but now she could really see herself.

"Do you really think I'm beautiful, Jesse?" she asked as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Why don't you?" he asked, deeply confused.

She shrugged and reached for her purse on the chair.

"I guess I'll go home and get ready for our date tonight," she spoke softly.

"I'll pick you up at eight?" he asked, a new smile creeping up on his face.

"See you then."

* * *

><p>That night at a little place called The Lavender Room, Quinn Fabray and Finn Hudson sat opposite each other on their first official date. It was a pretty swanky place filled with live Jazz music and the best meals and wine selection in town. It was a hot spot for all of the upper class people in the area and Quinn Fabray was definitely no stranger there.<p>

"I'm surprised you picked this place," Quinn remarked as she leaned back in her chair and raised her glass of wine to her lips.

"I wanted to go someplace where a star like you belonged," he shrugged. "And I've never been here before, so…"

"It's a really lovely place. The chef is one of the best."

He nodded and looked down at his menu to pick an entrée. But when he saw the prices, he nearly choked.

"Is there a problem?" she asked softly.

"No. I… um…"

He caught the price of the wine she was drinking and felt himself actually grow a little lightheaded.

"I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back," he muttered, jumping to his feet and almost knocking over the waiter on his way to the bathroom.

Biting her lower lip softly, Quinn set her glass down and pushed herself up to her feet to go after him.

"Finn?" she called out as she tapped her knuckles lightly at the door. "Finn, I'll come in there if you don't answer. Are you alright?"

"Fine… I'm fine," he called out, but his voice was clearly nervous.

"Come out, then."

"In a minute…"

"Look… if there's a problem, just let me know."

There was a pause and Finn unlocked the door and poked his head out.

"Promise not to get mad?" he asked quietly.

"I'll try…" she replied, now growing nervous.

He sighed and hung his head low in shame.

"I kind of can't afford this place," he confessed.

"Oh… Well… We don't have to stay here. I don't really mind," she replied, running her hand over his arm a little.

"I just wanted to impress you, I guess."

She shrugged softly and tugged his hand gently back to their table so she could grab her things.

"I've been here hundreds of times."

"I haven't."

She could see the shame on his face and it killed her. Knowing now how much he wanted to impress her, she wasn't really surprised why he brought her over to this place.

"It was a lovely gesture. But we could really go anywhere else."

"Yeah?"

She nodded and squeezed his hand.

"We could catch a movie, maybe. I hear the new Quinn Fabray movie was pretty good," he said, giving her a side glance and holding out his arm for her to take.

"It's sensational," she smiled, taking his arm and letting him lead her out of The Lavender Room and back to his car.

* * *

><p>On the other side of town, Rachel was just about ready to step out in the living room and greet her date. She had just put on her earrings and sprayed her perfume to give herself the finishing touches she needed.<p>

"BERRY, YOUR DATE IS WAITING!" Santana called from the living room.

"I'll be out in a second!" she called back, taking on last moment to give herself the once over.

It wasn't the MGM approved look she had been given before, but it was the look she felt most herself in. That meant confidence. She wore her hair down with a sparkling barrette she had inherited from her grandmother and kept her makeup simple. She wore a blue cocktail dress that she had received as a gift from Kurt that afternoon when he heard she had a date. It was a godsend because she honestly didn't know what to wear when going out with such a big superstar.

"You're going to be a superstar now," she reminded herself before leaving her room.

When she stepped out into the living room and saw Jesse, she found him crouched down on the floor petting Brittany's pet cat. Clearing her voice, she stepped up close to him and held her hands together.

His eyes snapped up to her and softened as he took in the sight of her. Smiling softly, he stood up to his feet and pushed his hands in his pockets to avoid the temptation to pull her in close too soon.

"You look stunning," he murmured, watching her as though she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"You look quite handsome yourself," she replied, knowing that the compliment didn't mean as much when he probably looked this good on even a bad day.

He held out his arm for her to take like he had already done so many times before.

"Shall we?"

She nodded and hooked her arm with his.

"Let's go to the stars," she stated as she opened the door.

"Baby, we are the stars."

Their laughter echoed throughout the hall as Santana slammed the door shut. The sound of their budding romance was making her nauseous and she really didn't think she could take any more of it. Luckily, now they were gone and off to do whatever silly romantic things they liked.

* * *

><p>"So what's it like seeing your own movie?" Finn asked as he grabbed a handful of popcorn from the half empty bucket he had bought before it started.<p>

"Honestly? It's weird," she confessed, reaching for a few pieces for herself.

They were the last people walking out of the theatre because Quinn had insisted they let everyone else go first to prevent a fan mob. Now there were only a few lingering patrons here and there, but wide open space for them to breathe.

"I guess I could see that. Seeing your face up there a hundred times bigger."

"All of your imperfections on display…" she murmured with a nod.

"Like what?"

Catching herself, she looked down and shook her head.

"It's nothing…"

"No, tell me," he insisted.

Biting her lip, she pushed her hands into her jacket pockets and shrugged.

"You'd think that being a star makes you feel totally secure and safe. But not all stars shine forever in Hollywood. Watching your own movie in an audience full of people whose opinions make the rest of your career can be scary. One day you're in and they love you and the next day you're out and they don't even care. There's always someone new coming in to try and take your place and then just like that…" She snapped her fingers and sighed. "You're yesterday's news."

"Is this because of that Rachel girl?" Finn asked softly, looking down at her with concern.

"Yes and no," she confessed. "It's always been on my mind since the beginning. Doing everything I can to stay at the top of the ladder, you know? Being a star gives my life meaning and I'm not going to let it go so easily. Rachel won't last here."

Finn stopped walking and grabbed her hand.

"You've got nothing to worry about, you know," he assured her. "You're Quinn Fabray everyone loves you. The proof was all back there in the theater. America loves you."

She reached up to smooth his collar and let her hand rest on his cheek.

"You're sweet… and I think you've earned a kiss."

"Really?" he asked as he leaned in.

"HEY IS THAT QUINN FABRAY?!" a teenager called out from a little bit down the block.

"I'm going to have to get back to you with that kiss… run!" she shouted, grabbing onto his arm and tugging him across the street for the nearest place they could duck into and hide.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, Jesse. You've simply not lived until you've had one of my uncle's pies. If you're a fan of pie, you'll love his."<p>

"A cooking uncle. That's not expected. Usually girls boast about their mother's cooking," Jesse muttered with an eyebrow slightly raised.

Rachel looked away at his words.

"I didn't grow up with my mother," she confessed. "I never knew her, actually."

Jesse's smile faded and he quickly squeezed her hand gently in his. It was then that he realized that he was even holding it. He wasn't sure when their fingers laced together, but it just felt so natural and right.

"Did she die?" he asked softly.

She shrugged and looked back at him.

"I was… um… raised by my two… uncles," she murmured, looking up at him with a sort of nervousness he didn't get.

"Was growing up with them alright?" he asked, swinging her hand slightly in his.

"It was the best. They really are the best," she nodded, smiling as though she was so proud to call them her uncles.

"And where are they now?" he inquired.

"Back home. I haven't seen them since they said goodbye to me on the train before I came out here, actually," she explained, her smile falling to a wistful pout.

"You'll have to bring them out here to see you once we wrap up the movie. Maybe you can even move them out here if you really are that close," he suggested.

"Yeah… maybe. What about your family?"

Jesse looked away and ran his hand through his hair.

"Haven't seen them in years, to be honest. Things didn't really end well with them and I'm better off without them in my life," he said simply.

"Oh…" she mumbled, feeling like she crossed a line of some sorts.

Jesse nodded and looked away as he smelled something deliciously sweet wafting down the street. Licking his lips, he spotted this small café on the corner that was just begging for him to enter.

"Hungry?" he asked hopefully.

"Starved. What did you have in mind?" she asked.

"I think we should be a little wild and have dessert before dinner, don't you?" he asked as he tugged her into the café.

"Oh how exciting," she giggled.

"Pick anything you want. It's on me," he said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

She nodded and bent down to look in the glass display to observe all they had to offer. Resisting the urge to look at the view that was now available to him, he looked back at the door and froze when he saw Quinn running in with some guy that looked vaguely familiar. Was that the lighting guy?

He was a little shocked to see Quinn laughing and looking so happy. But the shock doubled when he saw her kissing him full on the lips.

"Jesse, I know what I want now," Rachel called out, walking back over to him to see what his attention was on.

Her smile dropped and she quickly felt the urge to bury herself away behind his back, but she had to remind herself that she wasn't doing anything wrong. Their dating wasn't supposed to be in secret.

"Well, well, well," Jesse said with his arms crossed.

Quinn pulled away from the kiss, immediately knowing the sound of Jesse's voice when she heard it.

"Lovely evening we're having tonight, isn't it?" he asked, slipping his arm around Rachel's waist and looking over at the other couple with a cool smile.

"Oh god…" Quinn whispered, really not knowing what on earth to do now.


End file.
